» OLPRJST 


JAHHATT 


D-Vatv  No  strand  v€  ompa  ny  f '  • 

JVsw'ybfiK 


AS 


Jt#/6 

oj 

— 


The  D.  Van  Nostrand  Company 

intend  this  booh  to  be  sold  to  the  Public 
at  the  advertised  price,  amd  supply  It  to 
the  Trade  on  terms  which  will  not  allow 
of  discount. 


THE  COLORIST 


DESIGNED  TO  CORRECT  THE  COMMONLY  HELD 
THEORY  THAT  RED,  YELLOW,  AND  BLUE 
ARE  THE  PRIMARY  COLORS,  AND  TO 
SUPPLY  THE  MUCH  NEEDED  EASY 
METHOD  OF  DETERMINING 
COLOR  HARMONY 

TOGETHER  WITH 


A  SYSTEM  OF  COL  OF  NOMENCLATURE  AND  OTHER 
PRACTICAL  INFORMATION  FOR  ARTISTS  AND 
WORKERS  OR  DESIGNERS  IN  COLORS 


BY 

J.  ARTHUR  H.  HATT 


NEW  YORK 

D.  VAN  NOSTRAND  COMPANY 

23  Murray  and  27  Warren  Streets 

1908 


C  c. . 

C\:"  c  ■ 


Copyright,  iqo8,  by 
J.  ARTHUR  H.  HATT 


All  rights  reserved 


THE  GETTY  CENTEf. 


flDr.  3obn  2).  flDorgan 

THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED 
BY  THE  AUTHOR 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Getty  Research  Institute 


https://archive.org/details/coloristdesignedOOhatt 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


THE  author  is  deeply  indebted  to  Mr.  Clifford  H. 

Coon,  to  whose  splendid  chemical  knowledge 
and  untiring  energy  is  due  the  discovery  of 
the  method  of  making  the  minus  color  magenta 
pigment.  The  three  minus  color  pigments  and  the 
plus  color  pigment  red,  used  in  the  printing  inks  for  the 
color  charts  in  this  book,  were  personally  made  by  Mr. 
Coon  and  the  author. 

The  plus  color  green,  a  commercial  product,  was 
supplied  by  the  Messrs.  Sinclair  and  Valentine.  The 
plus  color  violet  is  composed  of  commercial  ultramarine 
blue  modified  by  adding  a  small  quantity  of  minus 
color  magenta. 


PREFACE 


THAT  there  are  very  few  practical  works  on 
color  would  seem  to  be  a  sufficient  reason  for 
the  publication  of  a  new  one.  When  we  add 
to  this  that  the  few  now  in  existence  contain  compara¬ 
tively  little  information  based  on  the  scientific  principles 
of  light,  and  color  as  a  function  of  light,  and  contain 
consequently  many  misleading  and  contradictory  state¬ 
ments,  the  publication  of  a  work  on  color,  which  is  based 
on  the  scientific  principles  of  light  and  color,  and  pre¬ 
sents  a  consistent  theory  of  color  based  thereon,  becomes 
a  necessity. 

About  fifty-five  years  ago,  a  French  gentleman,  M.  E. 
Chevreul,  a  manufacturer  of  dyestuffs,  made  an  exten¬ 
sive  series  of  experiments  with  colors.  He  undoubtedly 
made  a  great  contribution  to  the  knowledge  of  colors, 
but  not  being  as  well  grounded  in  the  science  of  color 
as  we  are  at  the  present  time,  he  naturally  made  a  large 
number  of  mistakes.  These  mistakes  have  been  the 
heritage  of  the  art  world  in  all  color  literature  since  his 
time.  We  have  no  desire  to  detract  from  the  deserved 


VI 1 


Preface 


viii 

renown  of  M.  Chevreul,  who  is  entitled  to  praise  for  a 
great  amount  of  laborious  and  original  work.  We  do 
wish,  however,  to  emphasize  the  present  need  of  a  scien¬ 
tifically  correct  theory  of  color  upon  which  a  more  exact 
and  at  the  same  time  a  more  artistic  practice  may  be 
based. 

There  are,  it  is  true,  some  excellent  scientific  works 
on  light  and  color.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  scien¬ 
tist  is  rarely  a  great  authority  on  art,  and  rarely  touches 
on  those  problems  in  color  which  the  practical  worker 
wishes  to  solve. 

The  object  of  this  little  book  is  to  give  precise  data, 
whereby  a  color  scheme  may  be  analyzed,  and  beauty 
in  color  appreciated  and  produced.  The  book  contains 
for  the  first  time  in  color  literature,  either  scientific  or 
artistic,  a  complete  unity  between  science  and  practice, 
as  well  as  a  concise  and  consistent  law  for  color  harmony 
and  beauty  in  color,  which  the  author  confidently  believes 
will  stand  the  test  of  time  and  the  fullest  investigation. 

Although  this  book  is  based  on  scientific  principles, 
it  is  practical,  as  simple  as  possible,  and  may  be  under¬ 
stood  by  all  classes  of  readers. 

The  author  does  not  believe  with  many  writers  on 
the  subject  that  it  requires  a  genius  to  be  a  colorist. 
On  the  contrary  he  believes  that  it  requires  only  a  thor¬ 
ough  knowledge  of  color.  A  superior  aptitude  for  color 
will  of  course  always  produce  a  superior  colorist,  because 
the  latitude  for  choice  of  color  in  good  color  composition 


Preface 


IX 


is  so  very  large  that  the  colorist  with  the  best  taste  or 
talent  will  naturally  do  better  than  one  not  so  well 
endowed.  However,  with  a  thorough  knowledge  of  color 
no  one  need  be  a  bad  colorist. 

While  this  work  is  intended  and  adapted  for  the 
general  reader,  with  the  belief  that  a  more  thorough  knowl¬ 
edge  of  color  on  the  part  of  the  public  would  have  a 
great  stimulating  effect  on  good  art,  it  is  intended  espe¬ 
cially  for  artists,  art  students,  architects,  color  printers, 
decorators,  and  costume  designers. 

J.  Arthur  H.  Hatt. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  November  21,  1908. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGB 

Light  the  Source  of  Color:  The  Spectrum .  i 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Old  Idea  of  Primary  Colors.  .  . . . .  9 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Scientific  Primary  Colors . .  . . . . . .  12 

CHAPTER  XY. 

The  Additive  Method  of  Combining  Colors  by  Rays  of  Light .  19 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Subtractive  Method  of  Combining  Colors  with  Pigments .  22 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Juxtaposit  Method  with  both  Light  and  Pigments . . .  29 

CHAPTER  VXX. 

Beauty  in  Color . . . . . .  35 

CHAPTER  VIXI 

Harmony  versus  Contrast  of  Color. .  47 

CHAPTER  XX. 

A  Full  Palette . . . . . . .  23 

xi 


Contents 


xn 

CHAPTER  X. 

PAGE 

The  Proper  Way  to  Blend  Oil  Colors  for  Clean  Luminous  Effects.  57 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Complementary  Colors  in  Shadows .  60 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Surface  Texture  in  Painting .  63 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Proper  Colors  for  Aerial  Perspective . .  66 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Art  or  Truth  in  Painting .  70 

CHAPTER  XV. 

A  Standard  Color  Code,  and  Nomenclature .  72 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Addendum .  77 


DIRECTIONS  FOR  DETERMINING  A  COLOR  HARMONY 
WITH  THE  AID  OF  COLOR  CHART  (NO.  1) 


IT  WILL  be  observed  that  the  main  circle  of  the  Color 
Chart  is  composed  of  the  plus  colors  and  the  minus 
colors  alternating,  and  separated  by  a  blend  of  the 
nearest  two  colors  in  each  case. 

These  colors  merge  from  the  saturated  or  full  strength 
color  at  the  outer  edge  of  the  circle  to  white  at  the  center 
The  three  outer  rings  are  produced  by  printing  the 
three  minus  colors  over  each  other  in  various  strengths  or 
degrees  of  saturation. 

By  fitting  the  mask  *  to  the  chart,  which  is  done  by  cen¬ 
tering  it  on  the  chart,  and  turning  it  until  the  desired  colors 
show,  we  have  perhaps  the  widest  range  of  colors  exposed 
which  can  be  said  to  properly  harmonize. 

Artists  may  safely  use  all  the  colors  exposed  in  this 
manner  in  a  picture,  with  full  confidence  in  securing  a 
harmonious  result. 

For  those  who  desire  a  more  limited  range  of  colors 
for  any  purpose,  it  will  only  be  necessary  to  further  mask 


*  The  mask  will  be  found  printed  on  one  of  the  blank  pages  at  the  back  of 
the  book,  and  is  to  be  cut  out  for  use. 


xiii 


XIV 


Directions 


out  colors  not  desired  by  placing  strips  of  paper  over  the 
exposed  portion  of  the  chart  and  changing  them  about 
at  will  until  a  combination  of  colors  is  found  that  meets 
the  taste  or  requirements  of  the  user. 

The  matching  of  a  color  on  the  chart  with  another 
color  or  pigment  can  best  be  done  by  viewing  the  two 
colors  through  small  holes  cut  in  two  sheets  of  white  paper 
(or  gray  paper);  the  holes  should  be  small  enough  to 
show  only  the  desired  color  in  each  case. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  Harmony  Chart  (No.  i) 
does  not  contain  any  of  the  lighter  tones  of  color,  but  on 
the  contrary  ranges  from  full  tones  of  color  to  deep  shades 
of  color;  where  lighter  tones  or  tints  of  color  are  desired 
in  a  combination,  they  may  be  observed  by  viewing  the 
chart  through  very  thin  white  tissue-  or  wax-paper. 

A  mask  will  not  be  necessary  when  the  chart  is  viewed 
in  such  a  manner,  as  all  the  colors  on  the  chart  should 
harmonize  when  sufficiently  reduced  with  white.  For 
decorative  purposes,  however,  or  in  cases  where  a  more 
confined  harmony  would  be  desirable,  the  mask  may  be 
used  in  the  usual  way  when  viewing  the  chart  through 
white  tissue-paper. 

A  harmony  of  pure  hues  may  be  determined  on  the 
Nomenclature  Chart  (No.  2)  by  placing  a  mask  over  it  so 
as  to  expose  an  arc  of  75  degrees  on  the  color  ring.  (This 
arc  will  contain  five  divisions  of  the  colors.) 

On  the  nomenclature  chart  it  will  be  noticed  that  the 
hue  named  lemon  yellow  does  not  accord  well  with  the  hue 


Directions 


xv 


commonly  recognized  by  that  name.  This  is  partly  because 
the  color  generally  known  as  lemon  yellow  is  more  or  less 
a  tint,  that  is,  a  full  hue  mixed  with  white;  on  the  chart 
it  is  intended  to  show  only  full  hues.  Then  again  the  art 
of  printing  does  not  readily  lend  itself  to  scientific  accuracy, 
and  the  author  will  be  pleased  if  the  charts  are  only  approxi¬ 
mately  correct. 

Pure  minus  colors  magenta  and  cyan  blue  are  not  at 
present  obtainable  in  permanent  pigments,  therefore  these 
charts  should  never  be  exposed  to  sunlight,  and  when  not 
in  use  should  be  protected  from  all  light.  Treated  in  this 
way  they  will  last  for  years  unimpaired. 


v 


\  5  ■  ”  ■ 

?*•  \ 

■■  ">K 

, 

; 

.  -  ~  ■ 


\ 


M  K  ■  i 

. 

■ 1  -  . 
r  U 


“  The  Colorist ” 

By  ].  A.  H.  Halt 
Harmony  Chart  No.  I 


This  Chart  together  with  the  mask  is  designed  for  the  purpose  of 
determining  color  harmonies.  See  directions  on  preceding  pages. 


( Patent  applied  for). 


“The  Colorist ” 

B\>  J.  A.  H.  Halt 
N  omenclatur  e  Chart  No.  2 


Showing  proposed  names  for  hues  15°  apart. 
Colors  opposite  each  other  are  complimentary. 


D.  VAN  NOSTRAND  CO. 
Publishers,  N.  Y. 


THE  COLORIST 


CHAPTER  I 

LIGHT  THE  SOURCE  OF  COLOR 

THAT  the  eye  is  enabled  to  see  objects  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  objects  reflect  light  which,  entering  the 
eye,  excites  the  optic  nerve,  and  through  it,  the 
brain.  Light  therefore  is  the  agency  which  causes  the 
sensation  of  sight  and  also  of  color  through  the  nerves  of 
the  eye,  which  are  sensitive  to  the  light  rays. 

The  accepted  explanation  for  this  phenomenon  is  that 
what  we  call  or  know  as  light  rays  are  in  reality  a  series 
of  waves  or  agitations  of  the  hypothetical  ether,  which 
pervades  all  space.  The  eye  is  constructed  so  as  to  be 
sensitive  to  these  agitations  when  they  impinge  upon  it, 
somewhat  after  the  fashion  of  the  focussing  screen  or 
ground  glass  in  a  camera  behind  the  lens. 

Colors  are  due  to  differences  in  the  length  and  rapidity 
of  vibration  of  these  ether  waves,  those  of  one  length 
and  corresponding  rapidity  giving  a  different  color  sensa- 


2 


The  Colorist 


tion  from  those  of  a  different  length  and  rapidity  of  vibra^ 
tion.  Where  waves  of  different  lengths  are  transmitted 
together,  the  color  sensation  will  correspond  to  the  result¬ 
ant  or  additive  combination  of  all  the  transmitted  waves. 

Light  is  commonly  produced  by  incandescence,  natural 
light  being  rays  of  sunlight,  artificial  light  being  produced 
by  various  incandescent  materials.  The  intensity  of  the 
heat  of  the  incandescent  source,  as  well  as  the  nature  of 
the  incandescent  material,  seems  to  be  a  determining 
factor  as  to  its  general  color,  the  greatest  temperature 
producing  light  rich  in  violet  rays,  the  lesser  tempera¬ 
ture  producing  light  with  a  larger  amount  of  red  rays. 

Sunlight  is  a  comparatively  yellow  light,  or  rich  in 
red  rays.  This  is  not  at  all  times  so  obvious  because  of 
the  color  of  the  atmosphere  which,  being  blue,  has  a  ten¬ 
dency  to  make  the  average  of  light  which  we  perceive 
more  nearly  white. 

The  electric  arc  lamp  often  produces  a  bluish  or  violet 
light.  Most  of  the  common  sources  of  light,  such  as  can¬ 
dle-light,  gas,  oil,  or  incandescent  electric  lamps,  produce 
a  yellow  light. 

It  may  be  pointed  out  that  this  tendency  to  yellow  in 
artificial  light  may  be  corrected  by  allowing  the  light  to 
pass  through  a  bluish-colored  glass,  which  should  make 
the  light  more  white. 

Light  may  be  either  direct  or  diffused;  direct  when  it 
is  not  interfered  with  in  going  from  its  source  to  an  object 
illuminated,  as  a  ray  of  gaslight  falling  on  a  near  object, 


Light  the  Source  of  Color 


3 


or  diffused  when  the  light  is  interfered  with,  as  sunlight  on 
a  cloudy  day,  or  by  reflection,  as  the  daylight  illumination 
of  a  room  through  a  north  window. 

Light  may  be  divided  into  various  colors,  as  in  the 
spectroscope  (a  prism  of  glass  arranged  in  an  optical  instru¬ 
ment,  the  image  in  such  instrument  being  called  a  spec¬ 
trum),  or  by  a  laminated  surface,  such  as  mother-of-pearl. 
Colored  objects  have  the  property  of  dividing  light  by 
absorption.  When  we  look  at  a  red  object  which  is  illumi¬ 
nated  with  white  light,  the  sensation  of  red  is  produced 
because  the  violet  and  green  rays  are  absorbed  by  the 
object,  and  not  reflected,  leaving  only  the  red  rays  to  be 
reflected  to  the  eye. 

It  will  be  seen  on  examining  the  image  in  a  spectro¬ 
scope  (the  spectrum)  that  light  is  divided  into  three  natu¬ 
ral  or  grand  divisions,  namely,  red,  green,  and  violet.  A 
small  band  of  yellow  and  of  blue  may  also  be  observed  in 
the  spectrum.  These  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  over¬ 
lapping  of  the  red  and  green  rays  in  the  case  of  the  yellow, 
and  the  overlapping  of  the  green  and  violet  rays  in  the 
case  of  the  blue. 

It  is  of  course  true  that  there  are  certain  portions  of 
the  yellow  in  a  pure  spectrum  which  we  are  not  able  to 
divide  into  the  red  and  green  elements.  The  fact  remains, 
however,  that  we  can  make  all  hues  of  yellow  by  over¬ 
lapping  the  red  and  green.  The  above  remarks  also  apply 
to  the  blue. 

The  red  waves  are  regarded  as  being  the  longest,  and  the 


4 


The  Colorist 


violet  waves  the  shortest.  The  lengths  of  light  waves  are 
said  to  vary  from  750  to  400  million  parts  of  a  millimeter. 

If  under  white  light  an  object  appears  white,  this  is  due 
to  its  reflecting  all  light;  if  it  appears  black,  it  is  due  to 
its  absorbing  all  the  light,  and  consequently  reflecting 
none.  If  it  absorbs  some  of  the  light  rays  or  waves,  it 
will  appear  of  the  color  corresponding  to  the  remaining 
rays  or  waves  which  are  reflected  back  to  the  eye  of  the 
observer. 

The  foregoing  on  the  general  theory  of  light  is  not 
complete  or  strictly  accurate  from  a  scientific  standpoint, 
but  is  regarded  as  a  preferable  and  sufficient  preliminary 
presentation  for  the  purposes  of  this  work. 

With  a  medium  amount  of  illumination,  the  red  and 
violet  colors  of  the  ordinary  spectrum  may  be  considered 
as  representative  or  standard.  This  is  not  the  case,  how¬ 
ever,  with  the  green  color  of  the  spectrum,  which  is  to  a 
slight  degree  diluted  with  white.  The  green  color  may  be 
considered  nearly  correct  as  to  hue,  but  deficient  in  power 
or  lacking  in  strength,  and  slightly  tinged  with  yellow. 
This  deficiency  in  the  color  of  the  green  of  the  ordinary 
spectrum  is  probably  caused  by  a  slight  overlapping  or 
diffusion  of  a  greater  amount  of  the  red  rays  on  one  side 
and  a  smaller  amount  of  the  violet  rays  on  the  other  side. 

An  excess  of  illumination  has  a  tendency  to  make  a 
number  of  changes  in  the  colors  of  the  spectrum,  such  as 
making  the  violet  more  blue,  the  green  more  yellow,  and 
the  red  also  becomes  more  yellow  when  thus  illuminated. 


Light  the  Source  of  Color  5 

For  this  reason  the  normal  spectrum  may  be  seen  best  with 
a  medium  illumination. 

Only  a  small  proportion  of  the  ether  waves  or  undula¬ 
tions  is  visible  to  the  eye.  Some  of  these  waves  are  too 
long  or  too  slow,  as  those  of  the  infra-red,  while  others  are 
too  short  or  too  rapid,  as  those  of  the  ultra-violet. 

This  may  be  demonstrated  with  an  electric  arc  lamp 
rich  in  violet  rays,  by  cutting  out  the  red  and  green  rays 
entirely,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  bluish- violet  rays; 
this  may  be  done  with  a  strong  violet-ray  filter  used  in 
connection  with  a  very  pale-yellow  filter.  Now  by  observ¬ 
ing  the  remaining  violet  light  through  a  solution  of  sulphate 
of  quinine,  which  has  the  property  of  slowing  down  or 
lengthening  the  light  rays  or  waves,  we  will  perceive  a 
much  brighter  violet  than  is  the  case  when  viewing  the 
light  without  the  intervention  of  the  sulphate  of  quinine. 
This  proves  that  when  the  ultra-violet  rays  are  slowed 
down  or  lengthened,  they  become  visible.  We  shall  treat 
only  of  the  visible  rays  in  this  book. 

The  eye  is  supposed  to  be  supplied  with  three  sets  of 
nerves,  each  more  responsive  to  the  action  of  one  of  the 
grand  divisions  of  light  than  to  the  others.  Thus,  one  set 
is  acted  upon  mostly  by  the  red  rays,  another  set  by  the 
green  rays,  and  another  set  by  the  violet  rays,  the  com¬ 
bined  action  of  all  the  rays  producing  the  sensation  of 
white  light. 

The  luminosity  or  brilliancy  of  the  light  has  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  the  extended  color  action  of  the  eye  nerves. 


6 


The  Colorist 


For  instance,  in  a  normal  or  weak  reflected  light  it  is  pos^ 
sible  that  each  color  nerve  is  acted  upon  by  only  its  own 
selective  color. 

A  wave  action  confined  to  only  one  of  the  sets  of  nerves 
would  obviously  produce  the  sensation  of  color  that  that 
particular  set  of  nerves  was  sensitive  to;  likewise,  the 
wave  action  on  two  sets  of  nerves  will  produce  the  sensation 
of  the  mixture  of  those  two  rays;  for  example,  when  the 
red  sensitive  and  the  green  sensitive  nerves  are  acted  upon 
simultaneously,  the  sensation  of  yellow  is  produced,  which 
is  the  resulting  mixture  of  those  two  light  rays. 

It  is  evident  that  the  eye  is  primarily  designed  or  con¬ 
structed  for  seeing  white  light,  from  the  fact  that  when 
less  than  the  three  nerves  are  acted  on  at  one  time,  the 
nerves  so  acted  on  become  fatigued.  This  can  be  demon¬ 
strated  by  the  following  experiment.  Place  on  a  well- 
illuminated  sheet  of  white  paper  a  small  patch  of  brilliant 
color,  say  red.  After  having  allowed  the  eye  to  rest  by 
closing  the  eyelids  for  twenty  seconds  or  more,  allow  it  to 
observe  the  color  patch  for  a  similar  length  of  time.  After 
having  observed  the  color  patch  for  a  sufficient  length  of 
time,  transfer  the  gaze  quickly  to  another  part  of  the 
paper,  or  quickly  remove  the  color  patch.  There  will  now 
be  observed  in  place  of  the  red  color  patch,  a  similar  form, 
but  of  a  complementary  color  (blue). 

One  explanation  for  this  is  that  the  color  of  the  patch 
has  fatigued  the  eye  nerves  which  respond  to  its  color,  and 
when  the  gaze  is  transferred  to  the  white  paper,  the  com- 


Light  the  Source  of  Color 


7 


plementary  color  nerves  to  that  of  the  color  patch,  not  hav¬ 
ing  been  fatigued,  respond  more  freely  to  the  action  of  the 
white  light  reflected  from  the  paper,  thereby  having  the 
effect  of  tinting  it  with  the  complementary  color  of  the 
patch,  or  producing  a  negative  image. 

Another  explanation  is  that  this  fatiguing  action  of  the 
eye  nerves  has  the  property  of  calling  up  a  sympathetic 
action  of  the  nerves  not  acted  on.  This  latter  explanation 
gathers  weight  from  the  fact  that  the  negative  image  so 
produced  will  have  a  more  marked  effect  on  a  black  surface 
than  on  a  white  one. 

The  color  of  a  so-called  negative  image  of  a 

Blue  color  is  pale  red. 

Green  “  “  light  pink. 

Magenta  “  “  light  green. 

Yellow  “  “  faint  violet. 

Violet  “  “  pale  yellow. 

Red  “  “  greenish  blue. 

On  account  of  this  peculiarity  of  the  eye,  the  painter 
who  wishes  to  fully  appreciate  the  brilliancy  of  the  hue  or 
color  he  is  working  with  must  needs  rest  the  eye  frequently 
by  looking  at  a  color  complementary  to  that  with  which  he 
is  working. 

This  fact  of  the  eye  being  fatigued,  or  having  the  prop¬ 
erty  of  calling  up  a  negative  image,  plays  an  important 
part  in  the  appearance  of  colors  when  placed  beside  each 
other,  or  juxtaposed,  one  color  through  the  medium  of  the 


8 


The  Colorist 


eye  having  an  influence  on  and  changing  the  aspect  of  the 
other. 

This  law  may  be  expressed  as  follows: 

When  two  dissimilar  colors  {hues,  tones,  tints,  or  shades) 
are  juxtaposed,  their  dissimilarity  is  accentuated. 

If  we  consider  white  and  black  to  be  complementary,  in 
the  sense  that  blue  and  red  or  green  and  magenta  are  com¬ 
plementary,  then  we  may  say  that  the  effect  of  juxtaposing 
two  dissimilar  colors  or  tones  is  to  tint  each  with  the  com¬ 
plementary  color  of  the  other. 

For  example,  juxtaposing  white  and  black  has  the 
effect  of  making  the  black  blacker  and  the  white  whiter. 
Juxtaposing  a  light  gray  and  a  dark  gray  has  the  same 
effect.  Juxtaposing  a  green  and  a  magenta  has  the  effect 
of  brightening  both  of  the  colors,  as  they  are  complemen- 
taries. 

Juxtaposing  a  blue  and  a  gray  has  the  effect  of  tinting 
the  gray  with  a  pale  red,  while  the  blue  has  the  appearance 
of  being  lighter  or  darker,  depending  on  the  depth  of 
the  gray. 

Juxtaposing  a  yellow  and  a  red  has  the  effect  of  tinting 
the  red  with  violet,  making  it  more  crimson,  and  of  tinting 
the  yellow  with  blue,  making  it  more  green. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  OLD  IDEA  OF  PRIMARY  COLORS 

THE  theory  known  as  the  “Brewster”  theory,  that 
Red,  Blue,  and  Yellow  are  the  primary  colors, 
probably  goes  as  far  back  in  antiquity  as  any 
artistic  color  knowledge.  The  ancient  Greeks  had  a  palette 
of  red,  blue,  yellow,  white,  and  black,  and  probably  green. 
According  to  this  theory, 

f  Red, 

The  primary  colors  were . \  Blue, 

[  Yellow. 

f  Orange , 

The  secondary  colors  were . \  Green, 

'[  Purple. 

The  tertiaries  were  mixtures  of  all  three  in  \  Russet, 

varying  proportions . ]  Slate, 

[  Citrene. 

According  to  this  theory  a  green  color  was  such  because 
it  was  supposed  to  consist  of  yellow  and  blue.  This  is 
essentially  incorrect,  as  in  reality  blue  and  yellow  both 
contain  green. 


9 


IO 


The  Colorist 


With  this  old  theory  artists  and  experts  found  it  diffi¬ 
cult  to  locate  the  exact  hue  of  red,  yellow,  or  blue  which 
could  be  considered  the  respective  exact  or  fundamental 
hues  of  pure  colors.  Their  yellows  inclined  too  much 
towards  either  green  or  orange.  This  is  easily  accounted 
for  when  we  consider  that  yellow  is  composed  of  green  and 
red  rays,  and  even  a  greenish  yellow  has  red  rays  to  reflect 
to  the  eye. 

They  could  not  decide  on  the  proper  blue  because  the 
blues  contained  either  too  much  green  or  too  much  violet. 
Blue  is  composed  of  green  and  violet  rays. 

Then  again  they  could  not  account  for  the  fact  that  a 

/ 

mixture  of  all  three  pigments  did  not  produce  white,  as  they 
supposed  it  should.  It  will  be  seen  later  on  in  this  book 
that  this  should  not  be  the  case,  and  that  pigment  colors 
behave  in  every  instance  in  accordance  with  scientific  laws. 

This  old  theory  of  primary  colors  does  not  fit  the  scien¬ 
tific  facts  as  ascertained  in  modern  times,  and  has  been  the 
cause  of  most  of  the  misconceptions  generally  held  by  prac¬ 
tical  workers  in  colors. 

Another  misleading  proposition  generally  taught  in 
schools  was  that  all  colors  could  be  found  in  the  spectrum. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  all  colors  are  not  found  in  the  spectrum, 
a  notable  exception  being  magenta,  a  kind  of  crimson  or 
purple  pink,  one  of  the  primary  colors  of  the  subtractive 
set. 

It  is  within  present  memory  that  the  Newtonian  “  Seven 
Steps”  of  color  were  taught  our  students,  giving  the  impres- 


The  Old  Idea  of  Primary  Colors  1 1 

sion  that  they  were  distinctively  principal  or  representative 
colors.  These  colors  were  given  as  red,  orange,  yellow, 
green,  blue ,  indigo,  and  violet. 

The  orange  and  indigo  are  not  principal  or  representa¬ 
tive  colors,  while  crimson  pink,  or  magenta,  which  does 
not  appear  on  the  list,  is  representative  or  fundamental. 

The  orange  may  be  mixed  by  the  subtractive  method 
with  two  parts  of  yellow  and  one  part  of  magenta.  The 
indigo  color  may  be  mixed  with  varying  proportions  of 
green  and  violet  additively. 

Another  very  prevalent  error  caused  by  the  old  theory 
of  primary  colors  is  that  green  and  red  are  complementary 
or  contrasting  colors.  On  the  contrary  an  orange  red  and 
a  yellowish  green  actually  make  a  most  pleasing  harmony. 

A  magenta  and  a  pure  green  are  contrasting  colors; 
the  magenta,  however,  should  not  be  called  a  red,  but  rather 
a  red  purple. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  SCIENTIFIC  PRIMARY  COLORS 

HAVING  in  view  the  fact  that  light,  as  far  as  human 
vision  is  concerned,  naturally  divides  into  red, 
green,  and  violet,  and  that  the  nerves  of  the  eye 
are  undoubtedly  arranged  to  correspond  or  harmonize 
therewith,  and  that  no  other  logical  explanation  will  account 
for  the  various  color  phenomena,  we  can  definitely  decide 
that  the  true  primary  colors,  the  sources  of  all  other  colors, 
are  red,  green,  and  violet. 

It  is  probable  that  what  we  call  a  primary  color  is  such 
only  in  relation  to  the  organ  of  sight,  the  eye,  and  has  no 
such  function  with  light  itself  independently. 

The  points  at  which  the  spectrum  represents  the  fun¬ 
damental  color  sensations,  according  to  Clerk-Maxwell,  are: 
Red,  the  distance  from  C  towards  Z);  Green,  ^  the  dis¬ 
tance  from  E  towards  F;  and  Violet,  midway  between  F 
and  G. 

These  colors  may  be  roughly  represented  by  a  scarlet 
red,  emerald  green,  and  a  good  artificial  ultramarine  blue. 
There  being  three  methods  of  mixing  or  combining 


The  Scientific  Primary  Colors  i  3 

colors,  two  perfect  methods,  and  one  imperfect  method, 
there  are  also  two  sets  of  colors  capable  of  producing  all 
other  colors  by  combining  or  mixing  by  one  or  the  other 
method.  These  methods  of  mixing  or  combining  colors 
may  be  named  the  additive  method,  the  juxtaposit  method, 
and  the  subtractive  method. 

The  additive  method  is  used  when  we  combine  colored 
rays  of  light  to  produce  a  picture  or  combination  of  colors, 
as  with  the  photochromoscope.  The  red,  green,  and  violet 
set  of  colors,  called  the  plus  colors,  are  used  as  the  primary 
colors  with  the  additive  method. 

The  subtractive  method  is  used  to  combine  colors  by 
superposition  of  pigments,  as  in  printing  or  lithographing. 
This  is  done  by  superposing  the  Yellow,  Magenta,  and 
Cyan  Blue  primaries,  called  the  minus  colors.  The  minus 
colors  are  complementary  to  the  plus  colors  as  follows: 

Plus  Colors.  Minus  Colors. 

(Scarlet  vermilion)  red.  .  .  .  complementary  to  cyan  blue. 

Green .  “  “  magenta. 

(Bluish)  violet .  “  “  yellow  (slightly 

orange). 

The  juxtaposit  (imperfect)  method  is  used  largely  in 
the  various  methods  of  painting  and  in  the  new  method 
of  color  photography  brought  out  by  M.  M.  Lumiere  of 
France  (in  which  the  “Autochrome”  dry  plate  is  used), 
also  in  the  Joly  and  McDonough  methods  of  color  pho¬ 
tography. 


The  Colorist 


H 

By  the  juxtaposit  method  the  colors  are  blended  or  mixed 
by  being  placed  side  by  side. 

The  Red,  Green,  and  Violet  primaries,  or  plus  colors, 
may  be  used  to  compound  all  other  colors  when  used  as 
rays  of  light,  which  constitutes  the  additive  method  of  com¬ 
bining  colors.  For  instance,  if  a  ray  of  red  and  a  ray  of 
green  light  are  projected  onto  the  same  white  surface,  that 
surface  will  appear  to  be  yellow.  Combining  a  ray  of 
green  and  a  ray  of  violet  light  will  produce  a  blue  color. 
Combining  a  ray  of  red  and  a  ray  of  violet  light  will  pro¬ 
duce  a  crimson-pink  color,  or  magenta. 

In  other  words  the  additive  combination  of  any  two 
of  the  plus  colors  will  produce  the  complementary  of  the 
third  (plus)  color  in  the  minus  set  of  primary  colors.  Sim- 
ilarily,  the  combination  of  any  two  of  the  minus  colors 
by  superposition  (subtractively)  will  produce  the  comple¬ 
mentary  of  the  remaining  minus  color  in  the  plus  set  of 
primary  colors. 

Piinting  a  transparent  magenta  over  an  orange  yellow 
on  a  sheet  of  white  paper  will  produce  a  red  color.  Print¬ 
ing  blue  over  yellow  will  produce  green.  Printing  blue  over 
magenta  will  produce  violet.  The  same  thing  may  be 
done  in  oil  colors  by  glazing  one  of  the  minus  colors  over 
another. 

As  a  working  hypothesis  not,  however,  strictly  accurate 
scientifically,  one  may  assume  that  the  ordinary  white 
light  is  composed  approximately  of 

i  Red  +  1  Green  +  1  Violet. 


The  Scientific  Primary  Colors  1 5 


The  plus  colors  therefore  may  be  said  to  each  represent 
^  of  white  light. 


Plus  colors: 


f  Red, 

•  Green,  ^ 
.  Violet,  |- 
White,  -§- 


The  minus  colors  may  be  said  to  each  contain  f  of  the 
elements  of  white  light  as  follows: 


r  Yellow  =  |  Green  4 -3-  Red  or  §  White. 
Minus  colors:  j  Magenta  Violet +-£-  Red  or  §  White. 

I  C.  blue  Violet  4- i  Green  or  §  White. 

Gray  may  be  represented  as  follows: 


Red  £  4-  Green  -jt  -f  Violet  ■£  =  \  White. 

The  combination  of  cyan  blue  and  yellow  by  the  sub¬ 
tractive  method,  that  is,  by  superposing  them  as  transparent 
pigments,  may  be  represented  in  figures  as  follows: 

j*;Uf  Yellow +jJ^Ui  Blue, 

or  §  Green  4-  3-  Red  4-  3-  Violet. 

The  ^  Red  and  4  Violet  in  this  combination  absorb 
each  other,  producing  what  may  be  called  Dark  (or  Black). 
The  ^  Dark  in  turn  has  the  property  of  absorbing  ^  of  the 


The  Colorist 


1 6 


Green,  leaving  as  a  net  result  ^  Green,  the  normal  plus 
color.  Or  again,  showing  the  method  of  cancelation: 


i 

3 

1 

3 


R.  1 

~  l 

G.  J 


=  Y.  + 


G.  i 
V  1 


(Blue)  = 


%G.  +  %G.  +x^  R.  V.  =^G.  +  £  G.  +\Dark=i  Green. 


The  combination  of  blue  and  yellow  by  the  juxtaposit 
method  as  exemplified  in  using  Maxwell  discs  on  a  color 
wheel,  or  placing  the  colors  side  by  side  in  small  particles, 
may  be  represented  in  figures  as  follows: 

l  £ !  <“)  +  { *  5: } (Bk,e)- 


In  the  juxtaposit  method,  only  one-half  of  the  super¬ 
ficial  area  being  covered  by  each  color,  this  fact  may  be  rep¬ 
resented  by  dividing  the  above  figures  by  2  as  follows: 

J  £  I  (Yellow)  +jjB;  }  (Blue), 
or  3-  G.  +  -g-  R.  +  -g-  V. 

This  sum  may  be  divided  into  gray  and  green  as  follows: 
Subtract  from  it  £  R.,  £  G.,  £  V.,  which  equals  a  gray,  leav¬ 
ing  a  balance  of  £  Green.  Therefore  the  juxtaposit  method 
gives  us  f  Gray  +  £  Green,  or  a  gray  slightly  tinted 
with  green.  This  makes  evident  the  fallacy  of  using  the 
color  wheel  as  a  standard  or  guide  for  the  indiscriminate 


The  Scientific  Primary  Colors  17 

mixing  of  colors.  It  will  be  found  that  only  those  hues 
within  75  degrees  of  each  other  on  color  chart  No.  2  can  be 
combined  on  the  color  wheel  to  produce  a  result  approxi¬ 
mating  that  obtained  by  the  subtractive  method. 

The  combination  of  blue  and  yellow  by  the  additive 
method  may  be  represented  as  follows: 

J  *;}  (Yellow)  +  {  j  y  }  (Blue), 
or  f  G.  +  £  R.  +  £  V. 

As  white  is  composed  of  ^  G.,  R.,  ^  V.,  we  may  divide 

the  above  sum  into  white  +  Green;  therefore  the  addi¬ 
tive  method  gives  us  a  whitish  green  when  combining  blue 
and  yellow. 

The  combination  of  green  and  red  (plus  colors)  by  the 
additive  method  may  be  represented  by  figures  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  manner:  Q-)  Green  +  Q-)  Red  =  (f)  normal  Yellow. 

The  combination  of  the  plus  colors  red  and  green  sub¬ 
tract!  vely  may  be  represented  in  figures  as  follows: 

Let  white  be  rep- 

_  resented  by.  .  £G.,^G.,£R,\R,ly,yV. 

Subtract  from  it  (representing  the 

by  cancelation.  \R.,\R.,\G.,\G.  red  and  green). 

Resulting  in...  £  G.,  £  R.  +  |-  Dark,  equaling  a  yel¬ 

lowish  black. 

The  above  computation  is  based  on  the  fact  that  both 
red  and  green  absorb  violet  and  absorb  each  other  when 


i  8 


The  Colorist 


combined  subtractively.  We  have  then  accordingly  four 
cancelations,  each  producing  an  element  of  dark,  and  the 
i  G.  and  |  R.  remaining  forms  a  gray  yellow  which,  added 
to  the  four  elements  of  dark,  will  produce  the  above  result 
— a  yellowish  black. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  ADDITIVE  METHOD  OF  COMBINING  COLORS 


AS  PREVIOUSLY  stated,  the  plus  colors  are  used 
for  combining  colors  when  the  additive  method 
is  used.  There  are  two  practical  processes  for 
using  this  method,  both  of  which  were  invented  by  Mr. 
F.  E.  Ives. 

One  of  these  is  connected  with  the  use  of  the  photo¬ 
chromoscope,  or,  as  Mr.  Ives  calls  his  invention,  the 
“Kromskop.”  In  this  instrument  three  photographic 
positives,  made  from  what  may  be  called  three  three- 
color  negatives,  are  placed  so  as  to  reflect  a  single 
combined  image  to  the  eye.  The  light  which  passes 
through  each  positive  is  filtered  through  a  colored  glass 
which  corresponds  with  the  color  of  the  screen  or  filter 
through  which  the  negative  was  made.  The  colors  of 
these  glasses  are  respectively  red,  green,  and  violet,  i.e., 
the  plus  colors. 

By  an  ingenious  arrangement  of  transparent  mirrors, 
these  separate  images  are  made  to  combine  in  the  eyepiece 


20 


The  Colorist 


of  the  instrument,  and  present  a  complete  picture  to  the 
observer. 

The  other  invention  of  Mr.  Ives  is  the  triple-projection 
lantern,  in  which  three  colored  rays  of  light  are  thrown 
onto  a  screen  in  register.  All  of  these  colored  rays  of 
light  are  modified,  and  the  gradations  and  blacks  are  sup¬ 
plied  with  a  positive,  as  in  the  Kromskop.  With  both  of 
these  instruments  approximately  perfect  results  may  be 
obtained. 

On  looking  through  a  properly  adjusted  kromskop, 
without  the  positives  being  placed  in  it,  white  will  be 
observed;  this  is  produced  by  the  union  of  all  three  colors. 
By  obstructing  the  light  from  the  red  glass,  the  color  in 
the  instrument  will  be  blue,  the  combination  of  the  green 
and  violet. 

In  the  same  way  by  obstructing  the  light  from  the 
green  glass,  magenta  will  appear,  being  the  result  of  com¬ 
bining  red  and  violet.  Obstructing  the  light  from  the  vio¬ 
let  glass,  we  get  the  combination  of  the  green  and  red, 
which  is  yellow.  These  same  experiments  may  be  carried 
out  with  the  triple-projection  lantern. 

With  the  additive  method  of  combining  colors,  white  is 
produced,  and  when  blacks  and  grays  are  required,  they 
must  be  supplied  independently.  This  is  done  with  these 
two  instruments  by  interposing  a  photographic  positive, 
so  as  to  partially  obstruct  the  light  from  each  of  the 
colors. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  plus  colors  being  the  source 


The  Additive  Method  of  Combining  Colors  21 

of  all  colors,  so  far  as  human  vision  is  concerned,  they  are 
in.  fact  elementary,  and  contain  only  one  element  of  white 
light  each. 

The  minus  colors  being  made  up  of  pairs  of  the  plus 
colors,  each  contain  two  elements  of  white  light. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  SUBTRACTIVE  METHOD  OF  COMBINING  COLORS 
WITH  PIGMENTS 

THE  minus  colors  are  used  for  combining  colors 
by  the  subtractive  method.  They  are: 

Yellow,  Magenta,  and  Cyan  Blue. 
Probably  the  most  practical  way  to  combine  the  minus 
colors  so  as  to  secure  the  full  benefit  of  each  color  is 
the  method  commonly  known  as  the  three-color-printing 
process. 

While  with  the  additive  method  it  is  necessary  to  supply 
the  black  independently  of  the  colors,  with  the  subtractive 
method  the  opposite  is  the  case,  and  the  white  must  be 
supplied  independently. 

In  other  words  the  colors  with  the  additive  method 
will  make  white,  but  not  black;  the  contrary  is  the  case 
with  the  subtractive  method,  which  will  make  black,  but 
not  white. 

With  the  three-color-printing  process  the  white  is  of 
course  supplied  by  the  paper  on  which  the  combination  of 
colors  is  printed. 


The  Subtractive  Method  of  Combining  Colors  23 

The  great  difference  between  the  minus  colors  and  the 
plus  colors,  which  will  be  more  fully  brought  out  in  our 
consideration  of  the  subtractive  and  juxtaposit  methods, 
is  that  the  minus  colors  in  each  instance  contain  two  of 
the  elements  of  white  light,  while  the  plus  colors  contain 
but  one.  This  will  be  clear  from  the  following: 

Red  is  one  element  of  white  light. 

Green  “  “  “  “  “ 

Violet  “  “  “  “  “ 

Yellow  contains  two  elements  of  white  light — red  and 
green. 

Magenta  contains  two  elements  of  white  light — red  and 
violet. 

Cyan  blue  contains  two  elements  of  white  light — violet 
and  green. 

Therefore  when  we  print  yellow  on  a  sheet  of  white 
paper,  we  are  absorbing  but  one  ray  of  white  light,  namely, 
the  violet,  and  reflecting  the  two  rays, — red  and  green,  to 
the  eye.  If  we  print  a  magenta  over  the  yellow,  we  will 
then  have  absorbed  or  subtracted  the  green  in  the  yellow, 
and  a  red  will  be  the  result.  By  printing  cyan  blue  over 
the  combination  of  magenta  and  yellow  (red),  we  will  then 
absorb  or  subtract  the  red  or  remaining  light  element,  and 
black  will  be  the  result. 

Another  difference  between  the  plus  and  the  minus 
colors  is  that  the  plus  colors  have  the  property  of  absorb¬ 
ing  two  elements  of  white  light,  while  the  minus  colors 


24 


The  Colorist 


have  the  property  of  absorbing  but  one  element  of  white 
light,  thus: 


Plus  Color. 


Remaining  Elements 
of  Light. 


Red  has  the  power  of  absorbing  green  and  violet. 
Green  “  “  “  “  “  red  and  violet. 

Violet  ‘  ‘  ‘  ‘  ‘  ‘  ‘  ‘  “  red  and  green. 


For  this  reason  we  may  produce  black  by  printing  a 
plus  color  over  a  minus  color  or,  vice  versa,  a  minus  color 
over  a  plus  color.  Thus  we  may  produce  black  by  printing 
violet  over  yellow,  or  the  reverse,  because  yellow  absorbs 
one  element  of  light  (violet),  and  violet  absorbs  two  ele¬ 
ments  of  light,  red  and  green  (that  is,  yellow). 

,T.  n  ,  Remaining  Element 

Minus  Color.  of  Llght. 

Yellow  has  the  power  of  absorbing  violet. 

Magenta  “  “  “  “  “  green. 

Cyan  blue  “  “  “  “  “  red. 

From  the  foregoing  we  can  readily  realize  that  the  plus 
colors  and  the  minus  colors  are  what  may  be  called  com¬ 
plementary  to  each  other,  thus: 


Plus  Color.  Minus  Color. 

Red  is  complementary  to  cyan  blue. 

Green  “  “  “  magenta. 

Violet  “  “  “  yellow. 

Note. — It  will  be  understood,  of  course,  that  in  super¬ 
posing  colors  subtractively,  the  covering  color  must  be 
transparent,  so  as  to  allow  the  underneath  color  to  exer- 


The  Subtractive  Method  of  Combining  Colors  25 

cise  its  full  absorbing  power  on  the  light  of  illumination. 
From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  printing  yellow  on 
white  equals  white  minus  violet;  printing  cyan  blue  on 
yellow  subtracts  the  red  from  the  yellow,  leaving  only 
the  green  element;  superposing  the  magenta  on  the  green 
has  the  effect  of  absorbing  the  green  or  remaining  element. 

In  other  words,  white  minus  violet  minus  red  minus 
green  equals  black.  White  has,  of  course,  the  property  of 
reflecting  all  colors  to  the  eye,  while  black  reflects  practi¬ 
cally  none. 

Again,  to  superpose  magenta  and  cyan  blue  on  white, 
we  get  the  following:  White  minus  green  (magenta)  minus 
red  (cyan  blue)  -equals  violet. 

To  superpose  the  plus  colors  subtractively,  as  in  the 
three-color-printing  process,  black  will  result  the  same  as 
with  the  minus  colors,  by  reason  of  the  complete  absorption 
of  the  light  elements.  On  the  other  hand,  to  project  the 
three  minus  colors  additively,  as  rays  of  light  on  the  same 
white  surface,  white  will  result  the  same  as  with  the  plus 
colors,  as  all  of  the  light  sensitive  nerves  of  the  eye  will 
be  acted  on  simultaneously.  However,  by  superposing  any 
two  of  the  plus  colors  subtractively,  we  do  not  get  a  pure 
color,  but  a  color  mixed  with  black  or  gray. 

By  superposing  two  of  the  minus  colors  additively, 
say  yellow  and  magenta,  we  do  not  get  a  pure  color,  but 
a  color  mixed  with  white,  a  light  or  whitish  red. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  eye  is  supposed  to  be 
constructed  with  three  sets  of  nerves  sensitive  respectively 


26 


The  Colorist 


to  the  plus  colors  red,  green,  and  violet.  And  when  two 
of  the  plus  colors  are  superposed  subtractively,  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  elements  of  white  light  is  absorbed  or 
subtracted,  and  not  allowed  to  act  on  the  sensitive  nerves 
of  the  eye;  this  leaves  a  relatively  smaller  amount  of  light 
rays  to  act  than  would  be  the  case  were  the  minus  colors 
to  be  used  the  same  way.  For  example,  when  two  of 
the  minus  colors  are  superposed  subtractively,  say  yellow 
and  magenta,  the  green  half  of  the  yellow  is  absorbed 
by  the  magenta,  while  the  violet  half  of  the  magenta 
is  absorbed  by  the  yellow,  each  color  absorbing  what 
may  be  called  one-quarter  of  the  total  light  of  illumi¬ 
nation,  making  in  all  one-half  the  light  only,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  two-thirds  of  the  total  light  in  case  of  the 
plus  colors  superposed  the  same  way. 

Hence  the  difference  in  purity  of  color  between  the 
two  compounds  superposed  subtractively  must  be  in 
favor  of  the  minus  set  of  primary  colors. 

The  same  reason  which  makes  for  purity  of  color  in 
the  minus  set  when  superposed  subtractively,  also  causes 
a  weakening  or  dilution  of  color  when  these  colors  are 
superposed  additively.  Each  minus  color  being  com¬ 
posed  of  two  elemental  rays  of  light,  when  they  are  com¬ 
bined  additively,  an  excess  of  white  light  is  introduced 
into  the  mixture.  This  of  course  is  not  the  case  with 
the  plus  colors,  as  has  been  explained. 

Another  feature  of  the  difference  between  the  addi¬ 
tive  and  the  subtractive  method  of  combining  colors  may 


The  Subtractive  Method  of  Combining  Colors  27 

be  noted,  as,  for  instance,  in  making  color  record  or  sepa¬ 
ration  negatives  for  the  additive  and  subtractive  methods 
(kromskop  and  three-color-printing  process),  the  same 
character  of  negative  is  not  best  suited  for  both  methods. 
Good  results  in  the  kromskop  may  be  secured  only  by  the 
“color-curve”  system  of  color  separation.  In  the  three- 
color-printing  process  the  “pure-color”  system  of  photo¬ 
graphic  color  division  gives  the  best  results.  In  the 
“color-curve”  system  the  negative  plates  are  made  sen¬ 
sitive  to  a  wider  area  of  the  spectrum;  in  fact  the  sensi¬ 
tive  regions  on  the  different  negatives  merge  into  each 
other  on  the  spectrum.  In  the  “pure-color”  system 
the  zone  of  sensitiveness  for  each  color  is  more  confined 
and  does  not  overlap,  as  with  the  other  system. 

An  explanation  of  why  this  should  be  so  will  occur 
to  the  reader,  when  it  is  remembered  that  in  the  krom¬ 
skop  a  composite  or  color  picture  is  formed  by  three  rays 
of  light,  while  on  a  three-color  print,  with  the  usual 
method  of  observation  by  reflected  light,  we  have  at  all 
times  but  one  volume  of  illumination.  We  will  also 
observe  on  mixing  or  producing  a  color  with  two  ele¬ 
ments  in  the  kromskop,  such  as  any  of  the  minus  colors, 
that  we  do  not  obtain  a  saturated  or  full  power  color^ 
but  instead  we  get  a  color  diluted  with  white.  In  other 
words,  viewing  a  picture  in  the  kromskop  is  practically 
viewing  it  in  an  abnormal  or  excess  of  light,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  the  ordinary  methods  of  viewing  colored 
pictures. 


28 


The  Colorist 


This  peculiarity  is  taken  care  of  in  the  “curve”  sys¬ 
tem  of  photography  by  the  extension  of  the  sensitive 
area,  as  compared  with  the  “  pure-color”  system.  This 
extension  of  the  area  or  overlapping  of  the  colors  has 
the  effect  in  the  kromskop  of  interposing  a  partial  obstruc¬ 
tion  of  the  light  in  each  element  required  for  the  mixtures, 
and  in  the  three-color  process,  of  too  great  an  overlapping 
of  the  colors,  giving  a  gray  or  flat  result. 

On  the  other  hand,  with  the  pure-color  method  of 
photography  in  which  the  color  sensitive  areas  on  the 
photographic  plate  are  not  allowed  to  overlap,  but  are 
arranged  so  that  the  sensitive  area  for  each  color  ends 
where  the  next  color  begins,  it  is  possible  to  get  a  more 
perfect  division  of  the  colors  for  the  three-color-printing 
process  (the  subtractive  method).  This  method  of  sepa¬ 
rating  the  colors  would,  however,  not  be  satisfactory  for 
the  kromskop  (the  additive  method),  as  the  combined 
picture  so  made  would  be  deficient  in  grays,  and  the 
colors  formed  in  the  instrument  by  the  various  combi¬ 
nations  (the  minus  colors)  would  be  too  much  reduced 
with  white. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  JUXTAPOSTT  METHOD  WITH  BOTH  LIGHT  AND 

PIGMENTS 

IN  THE  previous  chapters  we  have  discussed  methods 
of  combining  where  the  colors  were  transparent 
and  allowed  to  exercise  their  absorbing  power 
over  the  whole  area  of  the  combination  when  superposed. 

The  pigments  ordinarily  used  by  the  artist,  painter, 
lithographer,  and  printer  are  not  as  a  rule  sufficiently 
transparent  to  produce  perfect  results  by  the  subtractive 
method. 

The  artist  on  his  palette  and  the  lithographer  on  his 
slab,  when  mixing  colors  for  painting  and  printing  respec¬ 
tively,  do  so  more  or  less  by  the  juxtaposit  method, 
using  the  minus  colors  for  primary  or  basic  colors. 

A  good  illustration  of  the  juxtaposit  method  may 
be  made  as  follows:  Divide  a  two-inch-thick  pack  of 
white  visiting  cards  in  halves;  paint  the  edge  of  one  of 
the  halves  with  vermilion,  and  the  edges  of  the  other 
half  with  a  mixture  of  emerald  green  and  gamboge;  add 
just  enough  yellow  to  the  green  to  make  it  a  neutral  or 


3° 


The  Colorist 


spectrum  green,  and  when  dry,  interleave  the  cards  so 
that  the  edge  of  the  pack  will  be  in  alternating  colors. 

If  this  pack  of  cards  is  placed  under  a  weight  and 
viewed  from  a  little  distance,  it  will  appear  to  be  of  a 
dirty-yellow  color,  a  yellow  with  a  little  gray  added  to  it. 

We  can  also  do  the  experiment  with  a  color  wheel  or 
an  ordinary  spinning  top  (a  Maxwell  color  top).  The 
top  should  have  a  flat  upper  surface  and  arranged  so 
that  two  Maxwell  discs  may  be  attached  thereto.  Max¬ 
well  discs  are  made  of  paper  of  various  colors,  and  are 
slit  from  center  to  circumference,  so  that  when  put 
together  a  part  of  the  surface  of  each  disc  is  exposed; 
they  are  joined  at  the  slits  by  sliding  them  partly  over 
and  part  y  under  each  other. 

Let  one  of  these  circles  of  paper  be  painted  vermil¬ 
ion  and  the  other  spectral  green,  the  same  as  the  cards. 
When  this  wheel  or  top  is  rapidly  revolved,  the  colors 
will  appear  to  be  transformed  into  a  gray  yellow,  much 
like  the  color  of  the  cards  painted  with  similar  colors. 

Superposing  the  same  colors  by  the  additive  method, 
a  pure  partially  dilute  yellow  would  be  the  result; 
superposing  them  by  the  subtractive  method,  a  yellow¬ 
ish  black  or  yellow  brown  would  be  the  result. 

The  juxtaposit  method  is  not  a  perfect  method  of 
combination  when  the  result  is  viewed  with  only  one 
volume  of  illumination,  as  it  will  not  produce  either  a 
white  or  a  black,  it  being  necessary  to  supply  both  inde¬ 
pendently. 


Juxtaposit  Method  with  both  Light  and  Pigments  31 

When  we  mix  two  opaque  pigments,  we  are  in  effect 
arranging  the  particles  of  each  color  side  by  side  and 
neither  color  has  the  opportunity  of  exercising  its  full 
absorbing  power  over  the  full  area  occupied  by  the 
mixture. 

This  statement  applies  of  course  only  to  pigments 
or  colors  that  are  opaque.  To  mix  transparent  pig¬ 
ments  in  the  same  way,  a  subtractive  result  is  produced, 
because  the  colors  over  and  under  each  other  are  each 
allowed  to  fully  absorb  the  light  of  illumination. 

Pigments  in  ordinary  use  are  either  partially  opaque 
or  partially  transparent;  hence  the  method  of  mixing 
them  is  usually  between  the  subtractive  and  juxtaposit 
methods,  depending  on  their  relative  transparency  or 
opacity.  For  example,  take  powdered  red  and  green, 
dry  colors,  and  mix  them,  and  a  result  similar  to  that 
of  the  color  top  is  obtained,  that  is,  a  gray  yellow.  Take 
the  same  colors,  have  them  transparent,  ground  in  oil, 
and  mix  them  together;  the  mixture  will  have  a  yellow¬ 
ish  black  or  brown  color,  the  same  as  though  the  colors 
were  superposed  subtract  vely. 

The  new  method  of  color  photography  devised  by 
Lumiere  is  based  on  the  juxtaposit  method.  Though 
this  method  gives  surprisingly  good  results,  the  results 
are  not  as  perfect  as  those  secured  by  Ives  with  the 
kromskop.  This  is  because  the  juxtaposit  method  is 
not  as  perfect  a  method  of  combining  colors  as  the 
additive  method  used  in  the  kromskop.  The  process 


32 


The  Colorist 


is,  however,  simpler,  and  for  this  reason  destined  perhaps 
to  more  popularity  than  the  Ives  method. 

Lumiere  supplies  the  tone  scale  or  blacks  with  a 
photographic  positive.  He  uses  the  plus  colors  (some¬ 
what  too  much  diluted  with  white)  to  produce  the  color 
values.  This  dilution  with  white  makes  it  easier  to 
simulate  the  white  sensation  than  would  be  the  case  if 
the  colors  had  their  full  value  or  power.  The  other  aid 
in  producing  the  sensation  of  white  is  that  the  pictures, 
being  transparencies,  are  viewed  by  transmitted  light. 
This  method  of  viewing  gives  them  the  benefit  of  an 
excess  or  large  volume  of  illumination,  and  has  the  ten¬ 
dency  of  making  what  would  ordinarily  be  a  gray, 
comparatively,  look  like  white  by  a  kind  of  optical 
illusion  or  contrast.  Therefore  we  may  say  that  the 
additive  method  requires  three  rays  of  light  of  illumina¬ 
tion,  the  subtractive  method  requires  one  ray,  reflected 
light,  and  the  juxtaposit  method  to  be  at  its  best  must 
have  an  excess  or  large  volume  of  light  of  illumination, 
or  we  may  say  two  rays,  as  compared  with  the 
others. 

If  a  good  three-color  print  be  made  transparent  by 
waxing  the  paper  or  otherwise  treating  it,  and  is  then 
viewed  as  a  transparency,  it  will  be  found  to  be  very 
weak  in  color.  The  blacks  will  appear  gray  and  the 
colors  diluted  with  white.  This  shows  that  only  one 
volume  of  illumination  should  be  used  with  the  sub¬ 
tractive  method. 


Juxtaposit  Method  with  both  Light  and  Pigments  33 

When  two  volumes  of  light  are  used  to  combine 
colors  by  the  juxtaposit  method,  as  in  the  Lumiere 
autochrome  transparency,  the  plus  colors  are  the  proper 
or  most  desirable  ones  to  use. 

On  the  contrary,  when  the  light  consists  of  but  one 
volume  of  illumination,  as  when  viewed  by  reflected 
light,  as  is  the  case  with  a  painting  or  print,  the  minus 
colors  should  be  used  in  order  to  secure  the  best  effects. 

The  combinations  of  color  by  the  juxtaposit  method, 
when  viewed  with  two  volumes  of  light,  are  much  like 
those  produced  by  the  additive  method,  only  lacking  in 
power  and  brilliancy. 

The  juxtaposit  method  may  be  said  to  be  a  midway 
method  combining  some  of  the  qualities  of  both  the  addi¬ 
tive  and  subtractive  methods.  For  instance,  if  we  com¬ 
bine  the  plus  colors  by  the  juxtaposit  method  with  one 
volume  of  illumination,  we  get  a  result  approximating 
the  additive  result,  with  the  addition  of  gray;  and  if 
we  combine  the  minus  colors  in  the  same  way,  we  get 
a  result  approximating  the  subtractive  result,  with  the 
addition  of  gray  or  white. 

At  the  risk  of  verbosity  we  append  the  following 
definitions : 

An  opaque  color  is  one  which  will  not  reflect  or  trans¬ 
mit  light  from  anywhere  but  the  surface.  Opaque  colors 
usually  have  a  brilliant  appearance  to  the  eye.  Most 
colors  that  are  transparent  in  thin  layers  are  semi¬ 
transparent  or  translucent  in  thick  masses,  and  look 


34 


The  Colorist 


dark  or  black  by  reflected  light.  The  reason  for  this  is 
that  the  light  of  illumination  is  permitted  to  enter  the 
mass  of  color,  but  is  interfered  with  on  its  return  and 
not  allowed  to  reflect  back  to  the  eye.  The  term  trans¬ 
parent  in  this  book  is  used  only  in  a  relative  sense. 


CHAPTER  VII 


BEAUTY  IN  COLOR 

BEAUTY  in  color  seems  to  depend  largely  on  the 
taste  of  the  beholder,  and  this  taste  is  largely 
a  matter  of  civilization. 

The  child  or  the  savage  prefers  brilliant  or  glaring 
colors,  while  refined  persons  of  mature  years  prefer 
colors  more  subdued. 

The  barbarian  will  fairly  revel  in  violent  or  garish 
colors,  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  barbarian 
sometimes  achieves  wonderful  results.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  Corot  will  paint  an  admirable  symphony  in 
green  grays,  or  a  Whistler  a  beautiful  combination  of 
tinted  grays. 

The  savage  will  decorate  himself  with  glass  beads 
and  objects  of  brilliant  colors,  while  civilized  man  con¬ 
tents  himself  with  polished  shoes  as  the  only  brilliant 
part  of  his  attire. 

In  an  esthetic  sense  beauty  in  color  consists  of  harmony 
of  hue,  or  of  analogous  colors  combined  more  or  less  with 
a  great  or  limited  variety  of  tone. 

In  this  book  we  shall  use  the  word  hue  to  mean  vari- 


35 


36 


The  Colorist 


ous  pure  colors  not  contaminated  with  white,  black,  or 
complementary  colors. 

Tones  will  represent  colors  modified  with  white  and 
black,  or  white  and  a  complementary  color. 

Tints  will  mean  pure  colors  modified  with  white. 
Shades  will  mean  pure  colors  modified  with  black. 

In  pictorial  art  harmony  of  hue  combined  with 
great  variety  of  tone  is  mostly  used  in  successful  pictures. 

In  decorative  art  harmony  of  hue  together  with  a 
limited  variety  of  tone  is  considered  in  best  taste. 

Sartorial  art  is  much  like  decorative  art,  though  in 
it  some  license  is  taken  with  the  laws  of  harmony  in 
order  to  enhance  the  effect  of  the  complexion,  hair,  or 
eyes,  as  the  case  may  be. 

Large  areas  of  violently  contrasting  colors  are  in  no 
sense  beautiful. 

Contrast  and  discord  are  synonymous  in  regard  to 
color  as  well  as  sound. 

Brilliant  contrasts  are  only  useful  when  they  serve 
to  accent  a  color  composition,  and  should  be  used  spar¬ 
ingly  only  for  this  purpose. 

We  will  sometimes  see  in  pictures  with  a  most  pleas¬ 
ing  color  composition  good  results  attained  by  what 
appears  to  be  the  use  of  contrasting  colors.  At  first 
glance  this  would  seem  to  upset  our  theory  of  harmony. 
It,  however,  brings  us  to  the  consideration  of  another 
law  governing  the  use  of  contrasting  colors  and  harmo¬ 
nious  colors. 


Beauty  in  Color 


37 


This  law  relates  to  the  amount  of  space  or  area 
occupied  by  the  contrasting  colors  as  compared  to  the 
harmonious  colors. 

A  number  of  violently  contrasting  colors  may  be 
placed  together  in  a  harmonious  composition,  and  a 
beautiful  result  will  be  attained  if  these  colors  occupy 
a  relatively  small  space  in  proportion  to  the  whole  and 
are  not  too  much  scattered  over  the  whole  area. 

In  this  manner  we  really  get  an  added  result  of  the 
whole  of  these  contrasting  colors,  by  the  juxtaposit 
method,  forming  the  equivalent  of  a  mixture  of  an  equal 
amount  of  opaque  pigments,  usually  making  a  gray  or 
broken  color.  This  sum  total  gray  or  broken  color  is 
the  real  factor  to  be  considered  in  the  harmonious  color 
scheme. 

To  illustrate  this  let  us  imagine  a  landscape  made 
up  of  green-blue,  green,  and  green-yellow  colors,  together 
with  various  tones  of  gray  (harmony  No.  n).  These 
hues  and  tones  should  make  a  perfect  harmony.  Now 
let  us  introduce  into  the  landscape,  as  accents,  small 
figures  clothed  in  vivid  pinks,  green,  violets,  yellows, 
blues,  and  reds.  Let  these  figures  be  fairly  small  and 
well  grouped,  and  the  effect  should  be  pleasing. 

It  is  understood  of  course  that  the  laws  of  aerial  per¬ 
spective  must  be  observed  in  the,  introduction  of  the 
figures,  which  would  give  the  natural  effect  of  softening 
the  colors. 

A  simple  way  to  determine  which  colors  harmonize 


38 


The  Colorist 


is  to  place  the  two  sets  of  colors,  the  plus  and  the  minus, 
in  a  circle,  allowing  the  two  sets  to  alternate  60  degrees 
apart.  (See  color  chart  No.  i.) 

Begin  by  placing  the  yellow  at  the  top  and  the  violet 
at  the  bottom,  place  red  next  to  the  yellow  on  the  right, 
and  magenta  between  the  red  and  the  violet.  On  the 
other  side  place  green  next  to  the  yellow  and  cyan  blue 
between  the  green  and  the  violet. 

Beginning  at  the  top  and  reading  to  the  right,  we 
will  have  the  colors  in  the  following  order:  yellow, 
red,  magenta,  violet,  cyan  blue,  green.  It  will  be  observed 
that  the  contrasting  colors  are  opposite  each  other,  as 
yellow  and  violet,  red  and  cyan  blue,  green  and  magenta. 
Now  let  us  imagine  that  these  colors  gradually  merge 
into  each  other.  We  may  then  regard  as  in  complete 
harmony  all  colors  that  fall  within  an  arc  of  75 
degrees. 

We  will  find  that  the  following  general  list  of  colors 
come  within  this  range,  and  will  in  each  case  contain 
the  hue  elements  of  a  harmonious  color  composition: 

Harmony  No.  1,  yellow  green  to  orange  (inclusive). 

2,  yellow  to  red. 

3,  orange  to  scarlet. 

4,  red  to  magenta. 

5,  scarlet  to  purple. 

6,  magenta  to  violet. 

7,  purple  to  blue. 


Beauty  in  Color 


39 


8,  violet  to  cyan  blue. 

9,  blue  to  turquoise  blue. 

10,  cyan  blue  to  green. 

11,  turquoise  blue  to  yellow  green. 

12,  green  to  yellow. 

It  will  be  understood  of  course  that  the  author  does 
not  advocate  the  exclusive  use  of  a  two-color  combina¬ 
tion  in  plain  bright  or  full  hues.  Such  combinations 
could  be  improved  by  gently  merging  or  blending  the 
colors  into  each  other,  or  of  lowering  the  tone  of  one  or 
both  of  the  colors,  preferably  of  both. 

Varying  to  harmonious  grays  should  be  associated 
with  all  color  combinations,  either  mixed,  juxtaposed, 
or  both,  in  order  to  produce  the  most  pleasing  results. 
The  smaller  the  interval  between  the  hues,  the  greater  the 
need  for  their  being  associated,  either  by  mixture  or  jux¬ 
taposition,  with  a  greater  variety  of  tones  or  grays, 
occasionally  including  even  black  and  white. 

It  will  be  understood  that  tones  of  color  will  be 
included  under  the  general  name  of  gray  as  used  above. 
This  will  include  such  tones  as  yellow  and  red  browns, 
dark  and  light  tones  of  green,  and  in  fact  the  full  range 
of  tones  of  what  were  formerly  distinguished  as  the 
“tertiary”  colors,  russet,  citrene,  and  slate. 

The  above  angle  of  division  applies  to  pure  colors 
or  hues.  These  colors  or  hues,  however,  are  seldom  used 
in  works  of  art  of  any  description.  The  angle  of  divi- 


4o 


The  Colorist 


sion  may  be  enlarged  as  we  lower  the  tone  of  the  colors 
or  dilute  them  with  white,  (We  lower  the  tone  by  the 
addition  of  black,  gray,  or  a  complementary  color.) 
Thus  a  low-toned  green,  yellow,  and  red  will  make  a  har¬ 
monious  combination  when  comprising  an  angle  of  90 
degrees,  instead  of  the  angle  of  75  degrees,  of  harmony 
No.  1. 

It  will  be  obvious  that  we  may  therefore  continue 
to  lower  the  tone  and  widen  the  angle  until  our  zone 
of  harmony  will  comprise  the  whole  circle,  and  the  colors 
will  be  a  varied  collection  of  grays  or  tones  of  color,  or, 
with  the  admixture  of  white,  a  collection  of  varied  tints 
of  color  such  as  we  see  in  mother-of-pearl,  or  a  com¬ 
bination  of  both. 

The  introduction  of  white  and  black  into  a  color 
composition,  to  produce  the  most  pleasing  results,  should 
be  governed  by  the  law  of  variety. 

This  law  may  be  indicated  as  follows:  The  colors  or 
hues  being  divided  into  two  classes,  namely,  the  lumi¬ 
nous  and  somber,  the  luminous  colors  will  comprise  those 
extending  from  yellow  green  to  yellow,  red,  and  scarlet, 
inclusive,  while  the  somber  colors  will  include  bluish 
cyan,  blue,  violet,  and  purple  magenta.  White,  gray, 
and  black  are  essentially  of  a  tonal  quality,  and  their 
association  with  colors  being  governed  by  the  law  of 
variety,  white  owing  to  its  brightness  will  accord  best 
with  the  somber  colors,  while  black  will  give  the  most 
pleasing  results  with  the  luminous  colors.  Gray,  being 


Beauty  in  Color  41 

neutral,  associates  well  with  both  luminous  and  somber 
colors. 

To  fully  appreciate  the  law  of  variety,  one  has  only 
to  contemplate  the  difference  between  a  newspaper  half¬ 
tone  illustration,  which  is  lacking  in  amount  and  variety 
of  gradations,  and  a  carbon  print  from  a  well-timed 
negative,  or  a  well-done  mezzogravure  print.  In  both 
the  latter  the  charm  and  beauty  consist  in  their  large 
variety  of  tones  or  gradations. 

Besides  the  distinction  of  luminous  and  somber  in 
colors,  we  also  have  the  attributes  of  warm  and  cold, 
also  advancing  and  retiring.  Therefore  the  upper  half 
of  our  circle  may  be  variously  denominated  as  warm , 
luminous ,  or  advancing ,  while  the  lower  half  will  be  cold, 
somber ,  or  retiring. 

Colors  may  also  be  divided  into  violent,  consisting 
for  the  most  part  of  the  pure,  luminous,  and  bright 
colors,  and  tranquil,  consisting  of  tonal  or  cold  colors. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  civilized  art  finds  expression 
in  tranquil  colors  with  large  tonal  variety,  as  compared 
with  the  violent  colors  and  meager  tonal  effects  of  bar¬ 
barous  antiquity. 

Chevreul,  about  fifty-five  years  ago,  wrote  a  volumi¬ 
nous  work  on  color  and  devised  a  system  of  color  laws, 
which  have  been  commonly  accepted,  without  question, 
by  writers  on,  and  instructors  in,  color  ever  since. 

Chevreul  in  common  with  all  others,  until  very  recent 
years,  mistakenly  adopted  what  is  now  known  as  the 


42 


The  Colorist 


“Brewster”  theory,  namely,  that  red,  yellow,  and  blue 
are  the  primary  colors. 

The  colors  generally  selected  as  primaries  by  the 
followers  of  Brewster  and  Chevreul  may  be  roughly 
stated  as  a  yellow  ranging  from  a  pure  chrome  to  a 
gamboge  yellow.  Scarlet  red  is  fairly  representative  of 
the  red.  The  blue  could  be  anything  from  a  pure 
ultramarine  to  a  Prussian  blue,  the  ultramarine  blue 
enjoying  the  greatest  popularity. 

Now  if  we  will  examine  the  color  chart  No.  2,  in 
which  the  colors  have  approximately  their  true  relation 
to  each  other  in  regard  to  position  on  the  circle,  we  will 
see  that  the  yellow  and  the  ultramarine  blue  are  nearly 
180  degrees  apart,  and  the  yellow  and  scarlet  red  about 
60  degrees  apart. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  true  primary  colors  should  be 
of  an  equal,  or  120-degree,  distance  from  each  other  on 
the  circle.  Having  made  the  mistake  of  choosing  the 
wrong  colors  for  the  primaries,  Chevreul  had  to  invent 
such  inconsistent  laws  as  “Harmony  of  contrast”  of 
hues,  colors,  etc.,  to  account  for  known  beautiful  har¬ 
monies. 

A  contrast  cannot  be  a  harmony;  the  two  words  are 
utterly  at  variance;  it  would  be  as  well  to  say  a  har¬ 
mony  of  discord. 

These  mistakes  naturally  led  to  such  confusion  as  to 
make  it  difficult  to  realize  that  beauty  in  color  is  really 
amenable  to  very  simple  rules. 


Beauty  in  Color 


43 


It  may  be  well  to  state  here  that  the  minus  colors 
advocated  in  this  book  as  the  primary  colors  for  the  sub¬ 
tractive  method  are  primary  in  the  sense  that  they  can¬ 
not  be  duplicated  or  mixed  subtractively  by  any  other 
colors.  This  is  of  course  true  of  the  yellow  advocated 
by  Brewster.  The  Brewster  scarlet  red  and  ultra- 
marine  blue  (violet)  can  be  duplicated  by  very  pure 
minus  colors  subtractively.  This  fact  would  be  enough 
in  itself  to  demonstrate  that  such  selection  of  primary 
colors  is  erroneous. 

We  find,  however,  that  when  we  place  the  principal 
colors  in  their  relatively  correct  position  in  a  circle  that 
we  are  now  able  to  determine  with  ease  and  certainty 
just  which  colors  harmonize,  and  by  using  taste  and 
judgment  in  making  the  selection  for  the  particular 
object  or  use  in  view,  it  will  be  difficult  indeed  to  make 
a  mistake. 

The  reader  is  referred  to  the  directions  printed  (for 
the  better  convenience  of  the  user)  on  the  page  preceding 
the  color  chart  No.  i,  as  to  its  use  for  determining  color 
harmonies. 

In  reviewing  the  color  laws  formulated  by  Chevreul, 
the  law  known  as  “The  harmony  of  scale  produced  by 
the  simultaneous  view  of  different  tones  of  a  single  scale 
more  or  less  approximating,”  the  author  wishes  to  state 
that  the  larger  the  variety  of  the  tones  of  a  single  scale, 
the  more  beautiful  the  result  must  be.  The  “law”  is 
therefore  without  point. 


44 


The  Colorist 


The  law  relating  to  “Harmony  of  hues”  is  in  accord 
to  a  great  extent  with  the  principles  advocated  in  this 
book. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  “Harmony  of  a  domi¬ 
nant  colored  light.” 

Another  law,  known  as  “The  harmony  of  contrast  of 
scale  produced  by  the  simultaneous  view  of  two  tones 
of  the  same  scale  very  distant  from  each  other,”  con¬ 
flicts  with  the  first  law  cited,  and  is  contradictory  in 
itself. 

A  better  substitute  for  both  of  these  laws  would  be 
“The  harmony  of  variety  of  scale  (or  tones)  produced 
by  viewing  a  large  or  a  small  variety  of  tones.” 

The  laws  “The  harmony  of  contrast  of  hues”  and 
“The  harmony  of  contrast  of  colors”  are  probably  the 
source  of  more  errors  in  color  harmony  than  any  other 
known  cause  in  the  last  half  century.  They  are  utterly 
at  variance  with  truth. 

It  will  be  well  to  remember  that  the  mixture  of 
black  and  white  produces  a  cold  or  bluish  gray,  and  such 
a  gray  will  naturally  harmonize  best  with  the  cold  colors, 
violets,  blues,  and  greens.  A  gray  to  harmonize  best 
with  the  warm  colors  should  be  warmer  than  the  mix¬ 
ture  of  black  and  white. 

Black  is  essentially  a  cold  color,  and  when  mixed 
with  yellow  has  a  tendency  to  produce  a  greenish  shade, 
showing  that  it  reflects  more  blue  or  violet  light  than 
any  other. 


Beauty  in  Color 


45 


This  may  be  accounted  for  by  likening  the  shorter 
wave  lengths  of  the  spectrum  at  the  violet  end  to  a 
heavy  fly-wheel  in  motion,  as  compared  with  a  light¬ 
weight  wheel  in  motion,  representing  the  longer  waves 
of  the  spectrum  at  the  red  end. 

In  comparing  the  two  classes  of  wheels  it  will  be 
noted  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  increase  the  motion 
speed  of  the  heavy  one  than  the  light  one;  on  the  other 
hand  the  motion  of  the  heavy  wheel  persists  much 
longer  than  is  the  case  with  the  light  wheel.  In  a  similar 
manner  the  violet  and  blue  colors  are  never  the  brightest 
colors  of  the  spectrum  in  a  good  light,  and  they  are 
less  affected  by  variations  in  the  light  of  illumination 
than  the  others. 

The  reds  and  yellows,  however,  are  very  sensitive  to 
variations  in  the  light  of  illumination,  as  compared  with 
the  blues  and  violets.  We  find,  therefore,  that  a  blue  or 
violet  object  is  not  as  bright  in  a  brilliant  light  as  a  red 
or  yellow  object,  and  we  find  also  that  the  blue-  or  violet- 
colored  object  will  retain  its  color  less  impaired,  when 
subjected  to  a  very  weak  light  of  illumination,  than  the 
red  or  yellow. 

Black  is  usually  represented  by  pigments  or  sub¬ 
stances  which  reflect  very  little  light,  and  it  is  natural 
to  suppose,  would  reflect  that  part  of  the  light  which  has 
the  greatest  inertia,  that  is,  blue  or  violet,  and  to  a  lesser 
degree  green. 

It  follows  then  that  artists,  in  painting  sunny  land- 


46 


The  Colorist 


scapes,  will  keep  their  reds  and  yellows  very  bright  and 
luminous.  In  evening  or  dimly  illuminated  scenes  they 
will  make  the  greatest  alteration  in  the  brightness  of 
the  reds  and  yellows,  rather  than  the  blues  and  violets. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


HARMONY  VERSUS  CONTRAST  OF  COLOR 

TO  SAY  that  we  have  good  grounds  for  believing 
that  the  color  sense  and  an  interest  in  color  were 
developed  in  some  of  the  earliest  forms  of  life  on 
this  planet  of  ours,  and  that  this  development  was  the 
actual  cause  of  the  growth  of  color  in  many  instances 
in  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  would  probably 
astonish  some  of  our  readers.  It  is  now  generally 
believed  among  scientists  that  the  only  terrestial  colors 
in  evidence  before  the  development  of  any  living  organ¬ 
isms  consisted,  with  few  exceptions,  of  foliage  green,  dull 
yellow  browns,  representing  decayed  foliage,  the  grays 
of  rocks,  and  the  various  dull  yellow,  red,  and  brown 
earth  colors.  None  of  these  colors  had,  until  compara¬ 
tively  recent  or  civilized  times,  any  attractiveness  for 
living  organisms,  and  presented  a  somewhat  monotonous 
appearance.  With  the  advent  of  insect  life,  we  next 
find  the  plants  which  depended  on  insects  for  the  dis¬ 
tribution  of  their  fertilizing  pollen,  using  color  to  attract 
insects  to  the  store  of  sweets  produced  by  the  plants  for 

47 


43 


The  Colorist 


their  allurement,  and  naturally  the  colors  thus  used  would 
be  brighter  than  the  surrounding  mass  of  greens  and  dull 
earthy  colors. 

The  association  of  color,  and  gradually  bright  color, 
with  food  by  these  insects  or  animals  obviously  led  to  a 
liking  for  color  on  the  part  of  the  animals,  and  in  con¬ 
sequence  the  plants  displaying  the  brightest  colors  were 
better  fertilized  by  the  living  creatures  and  were  able  to 
outgrow  their  rivals  that  displayed  less  brilliant  colors. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  function  of  the  bright 
color  in  the  plant  was  not  esthetic  in  its  nature,  but 
consisted  only  in  the  property  of  attracting  attention 
from  a  distance,  the  animals  meanwhile  learning  to  asso¬ 
ciate  the  bright  colors  of  Nature  with  food.  This  fact 
probably  accounts  for  the  taste  of  the  child,  savage,  or 
barbarian  for  brilliant  objects,  the  taste  being  inherited 
from  our  early  progenitors  who  were  accustomed  to 
associate  such  objects  with  the  food  they  gathered, 
whether  it  may  have  been  honey  from  an  attractive 
flower  for  the  earliest  form  of  insect  life,  or  the  various 
bright-colored  fruits  for  prehistoric  man.  These  bright 
colors  of  the  plant  life  frequently  consisted  of  colors 
that  contrasted  with  their  surroundings,  contrasting 
colors  having  the  property  of  attracting  attention  to  a 
far  greater  degree  than  harmonious  colors;  and  we  will 
find  at  the  present  time  that  many  of  those  plants  or 
flowers  which  supply  the  sweet  juices  to  our  honey¬ 
seeking  insect  life  are  decorated  with  brilliantly  con- 


Harmony  versus  Contrast  of  Color  49 

trasting  colors;  many  of  the  fruits  prized  by  man  are 
also  distinguished  in  the  same  way. 

The  beginning  of  the  appreciation  of  the  esthetic 
value  in  colors  may  be  said  to  start  from  the  acquire¬ 
ment  of  colors  by  the  various  forms  of  animal  life  for  the 
purpose  of  sex  attraction  in  mating;  here  the  principal 
reason  for  the  use  of  color  was  not  especially  to  attract 
attention  from  a  distance,  but  to  please  by  the  beauty 
of  the  color  combination  itself;  these  combinations  show 
a  great  and  beautiful  variety  when  their  choice  was  not 
restricted  by  fear  of  attack  on  the  part  of  the  animals 
acquiring  them,  or  restricted  on  the  other  hand  by  a 
life  spent  mostly  in  darkness.  Animals  or  insects  which 
are  able  to  live  in  the  air,  and.  consequently  do  not 
need  concealment  from,  a  possible  enemy,  have  developed 
the  brightest  and  most  pleasing  color  combinations;  con¬ 
versely,  those  that  live  in  darkness  are  usually  of  a  dull 
monotonous  color,  while  those  animals  requiring  con¬ 
cealment  usually  adopt  the  colors  of  their  natural  environ¬ 
ment.  Many  of  the  animals  of  prey  show  exquisite 
combinations  of  color  which  lend  themselves  to  con¬ 
cealment,  as  well  as  beauty.  These  color  harmonies 
assumed  by  the  various  forms  of  animal  life,  for  the 
sake  of  beauty  or  attractiveness  alone,  are  for  the  most 
part  very  charming,  and  could  not  be  improved  by  man¬ 
kind  of  the  highest  state  of  civilization. 

Nature,  however,  cannot  at  all  times  be  taken  as  the 
standard  or  ideal  for  art,  in  either  form  or  color,  but  she 


5° 


The  Colorist 


does  not  make  many  serious  mistakes,  even  in  the  con¬ 
trasting  colors  of  flowers,  which,  as  we  have  already 
pointed  out,  were  primarily  designed  to  attract  atten¬ 
tion.  The  pink  color  of  the  rose  offers  a  vivid  contrast 
with  very  bright  green  foliage,  and  Nature,  which  seem¬ 
ingly  is  always  striving  after  the  true  and  beautiful, 
tries  to  mitigate  the  sin  against  harmony  in  the  use  of 
pink  and  green  by  toning  the  rose  leaf  to  a  very  dark  or 
gray  green.  Nature  also  endeavors  to  make  amends 
for  the  pink-and-green  combination  by  the  wonderful 
variety  of  gradations  in  the  pink  tints  of  the  rose,  than 
which  there  could  be  nothing  more  to  be  desired  in  the 
beauty  of  the  variety  displayed. 

Another  fact  to  be  taken  into  consideration  is  that 
the  color  of  the  rose  in  its  natural  sylvan  surroundings 
should  not  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  general  har¬ 
monious  color  scheme,  but  merely  as  an  accent  to  empha¬ 
size  the  harmony. 

Man  being  a  reasoning  animal,  as  distinguished  from 
the  animal  world  with  instinct  only,  has  not  developed 
the  instinct  for  color  to  its  fullest  extent,  and  in  conse¬ 
quence  the  esthetic  taste  for  color  has  been  developed 
slowly  and  by  educational  means.  Primitive  men,  as 
well  as  children,  have  of  course  the  instinctive  love  for 
bright  colors,  being  inherited  no  doubt  from  the  associa¬ 
tion  of  bright  colors  with  food;  we  find  this  love  for 
bright  color  exemplified  in  the  colors  used  by  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  Assyrians,  and  many  of  the  present  wild 


Harmony  versus  Contrast  of  Color  51 

tribes  of  Indians  and  Africans.  The  gaudy  colors  used 
by  these  peoples  were  due  partly  to  a  lack  of  cultivated 
taste  and  not  to  the  fact  that  the  variety  of  pigment 
colors  they  possessed  was  limited. 

With  the  advance  of  civilization,  a  superior  esthetic 
color  sense  was  developed,  due  to  the  better  educational 
facilities  and  larger  range  of  pigments  available;  for 
example,  the  early  Japanese  produced  some  very  beau¬ 
tiful  color  schemes  which  were  mostly  copied  from 
Nature.  Non-esthetic  mankind  is,  however,  likely  to 
make  mistakes  in  the  use  of  color  schemes  from  Nature, 
when  selected  without  due  consideration,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  pink-and-green  combination  of  the  rose  and 
rose  leaves,  a  favorite  combination  with  the  Japanese, 
which  is  essentially  a  bad  combination  inasmuch  as 
pure  green  and  pink  make  a  violent  contrast,  and  con¬ 
trasts  are  not  in  themselves  beautiful;  the  Japanese, 
however,  recognized  the  beauty  of  the  rose  and  rose 
leaf,  which  they  failed  to  analyze;  their  reasoning  could 
be  summed  up  in  the  thought  that  the  rose  and  its  green 
leaves  are  beautiful,  therefore  we  shall  have  rose-  and 
green-color  combinations.  The  fact  is  that  the  beauty 
of  the  rose  and  its  leaves  is  not  due  to  the  contrast  of 
color  at  all,  but  in  spite  of  the  contrast,  the  beauty 
depends  on  the  singularly  great  variety  of  tints  in  the 
rose  color,  and  on  the  green  leaves  being  so  toned  down 
with  gray  as  to  make  a  near  approach  to  harmony. 

The  appreciation  of  the  beauty  of  color  harmony  is 


52 


The  Colorist 


one  of  the  certain  indications  of  civilization,  just  as 
much  so  as  the  appreciation  of  harmony  in  music  indi¬ 
cates  the  same  thing;  the  child  or  the  savage  likes 
noise  pure  and  simple,  as  well  as  bright,  contrasting,  or 
gaudy  colors,  while  the  great  colorists  of  modern  times, 
as  well  as  the  great  musicians,  love  harmony  above  all 
things. 

To  sum  up  we  will  find  that  Nature,  when  it  develops 
a  color  scheme  with  only  its  esthetic  beauty  in  view, 
does  so  invariably  in  harmonious  colors;  when  con¬ 
trasting  colors  are  used  it  is  for  a  purpose  aside  from 
beauty  alone.  Man  in  his  highest  development  comes 
to  appreciate  beauty  in  harmony  in  the  same  way  as 
Nature  does,  and  uses  contrasting  colors  only  to  accentu¬ 
ate  or  emphasize  a  harmonious  color  scheme,  and  in 
the  best  instances  only  sparingly  even  for  this  purpose. 
On  the  other  hand,  crude,  glaring,  or  contrasting  colors 
are  a  sign  of  primitive  man,  showing  a  lack  of  develop¬ 
ment  in  color  appreciation.  Almost  any  butterfly  or 
bird  will  give  us  a  beautiful  lesson  in  color  harmony, 
while  the  ancient  Egyptian,  the  present  savage,  or  the 
child  can  scarcely  be  relied  upon  for  good  taste  in  color. 


CHAPTER  IX 


A  FULL  PALETTE 


IN  THEORY  the  artist  should  be  able  to  use  three 
primary  colors  exclusively  on  a  white  ground, 
namely,  the  minus  set,  and  use  them  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  law  for  the  subtractive  method.  In 
order  to  do  this,  however,  the  colors  (or  pigments)  would 
have  to  be  very  transparent,  and  the  first  applications 
of  color  or  pigment  would  have  to  dry  sufficiently  so  as 
not  to  disturb  or  sully  the  color  over  it. 

This  cannot,  however,  be  realized  in  practice  by  the 
painter  as  easily  as  may  be  done  by  the  three-color- 
process  printer. 

The  pigments  of  the  painter  are  not  as  transparent 
as  the  process  inks  used  by  the  printer,  and  the  painter 
necessarily  applies  his  pigments  much  thicker  from  the 
brush  than  is  the  case  in  printing.  Nor  is  it  so  con¬ 
venient  for  the  painter  to  allow  the  colors  to  dry  between 
their  various  applications,  as  is  the  case  with  the  printer. 

In  reality  we  find  that,  owing  to  the  quality  of  the 
pigments,  and  for  the  sake  of  rapidity  and  directness, 

53 


54 


The  Colorist 


the  painter  is  using  the  juxtaposit  method  far  more 
than  the  subtractive.  Therefore  the  palette  should  be 
arranged  so  as  to  produce  the  best  results  by  the  juxta¬ 
posit  method.  In  theory  this  would  comprise  the  fol¬ 
lowing  pure  colors  (both  plus  and  minus  primaries):  red, 
green,  violet,  cyan  blue,  magenta,  yellow,  white,  and 
black. 

The  available  pigments  do  not,  however,  lend  them¬ 
selves  to  this  ideal  arrangement.  A  compromise  must 
be  effected  by  using  the  best  practical  pigments  that 
conform  most  closely  to  the  theory.  A  good  selection 
would  be:  Lemon  yellow,  medium  cadmium  yellow, 
English  vermilion,  rose  or  crimson  madder,  French 
ultramarine  or  permanent  blue,  Chinese  (Prussian)  blue, 
emerald  green,  black,  and  white. 

The  above  colors  are  necessary,  and  the  following 
are  useful  additions:  Pale  and  orange  cadmium,  yellow 
ocher,  raw  sienna,  raw  umber,  light  red,  Indian  red, 
burnt  sienna,  burnt  umber,  brown  madder,  Vandyke 
brown,  and  terre  vert  (green). 

Black  will  not  be  necessary  with  the  “useful  addi¬ 
tions,”  as  Vandyke  brown  and  permanent  blue,  as  well 
as  other  combinations,  make  a  superior  substitute. 

Before  going  into  the  best  methods  of  mixing  these 
pigments,  we  will  consider  a  peculiar  quality  possessed 
by  some  pigments,  namely,  “Dichromatism.” 

This  is  the  quality  possessed  by  some  pigments  of 
reflecting  two  colors  to  the  eye.  This  is  noticeably  the 


A  Full  Palette 


55 


case  with  Chinese  blue  (Prussian  blue),  which  will  incline 
towards  green  in  its  lighter  tints  and  towards  violet  in 
its  full  hues.  A  good  vermilion  will  graduate  from  an 
orange  to  a  pink  in  its  light  tints.  All  transparent  yel¬ 
lows  are  more  or  less  dichromatic,  ranging  between  orange 
and  green  hues  of  yellow,  depending  on  their  thickness 
or  thinness  of  application. 

Pigments  with  the  dichromatic  quality  are  more 
desirable  to  mix  colors  with  than  non-dichromatic  pig¬ 
ments.  Conversely,  the  non-dichromatic  pigments  are 
best  for  the  printer  or  lithographer.  Dichromatic  pig¬ 
ments  will  make  the  most  brilliant  combinations,  but 
on  the  press  they  require  more  care  in  order  to  print  the 
sheets  evenly,  as  slight  variations  in  the  amount  of  color 
applied  will  alter  the  hue  on  the  printed  sheet. 

After  carefully  considering  the  subtractive  and  jux- 
taposit  methods  and  their  limitations,  we  naturally 
conclude  that  the  best  method  of  mixing  a  hue  of  color 
is  to  start  with  the  nearest  pure  color  and  modify  it,  as 
required  by  its  nearest  neighbor  or  closely  related  color 
in  the  direction  of  the  proposed  modification.  This  is 
exemplified  in  the  following  partial  list: 

To  mix  a  yellow  green  of  greatest  purity,  it  will  be 
best  to  modify  emerald  green  with  lemon  yellow,  or  for 
a  blue  green  modify  it  with  Chinese  blue. 

It  may  be  said  here  that  emerald  green,  although 
our  most  brilliant  green,  is  somewhat  lacking  in  power 
(diluted  with  white),  and  it  inclines  a  little  too  much 


56  The  Colorist 

towards  blue.  The  “spectrum”  green  is  a  slightly  yel¬ 
lowish  green.  To  make  violets  and  purples  we  will  find 
permanent  blue  and  rose  madder  the  best,  although 
Chinese  blue  produces  almost  as  good  a  result  as  per¬ 
manent  blue,  largely  on  account  of  its  dichromatism. 

We  could  dispense  with  permanent  blue  much  more 
easily  than  with  Chinese  blue,  permanent  blue  not  being 
suitable  for  pure  green. 

To  make  an  orange  it  will  be  obvious  that  vermilion 
and  an  orange  yellow  will  be  better  than  vermilion  and 
lemon  yellow.  For  a  true  red,  vermilion  and  a  little 
rose  madder  will  be  most  satisfactory.  These  mixtures, 
or  the  pigments  as  we  buy  them,  may  be  altered  by  the 
addition  of  white  for  tints,  or  a  complementary  color  for 
tones,  or  a  black  for  shades. 

In  the  above  we  have  given  no  consideration  to  the 
qualities  of  opacity  and  transparency  in  pigments,  these 
being  so  obvious  and  too  well  known  to  need  discussion. 

We  would  suggest  here  to  the  student  or  beginner 
in  painting  who  desires  to  secure  perfect  harmony  in  his 
work,  to  limit  his  palette  to  the  colors  shown  on  the 
color  chart  No.  1  for  any  particular  harmony  which 
will  accord  best  with  the  picture  he  desires  to  paint, 
making  only  a  sparing  use  of  the  colors  not  shown  on 
the  chart  for  mixtures  and  accents. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  PROPER  WAY  TO  BLEND  OIL  COLORS  FOR  CLEAN, 
LUMINOUS  EFFECTS 

THE  flesh  colors  in  portraits  or  figures  are  admit¬ 
tedly  hard  to  paint  successfully.  One  reason 
may  be  that  the  observer  is  more  likely  to  be 
well  informed  as  to  its  appearance,  and  consequently 
more  than  usually  critical. 

Velasques  was  eminently  successful  as  a  painter  of 
flesh.  He  probably  stands  unequaled  and  in  a  class  by 
himself  in  this  regard.  Of  him  it  has  been  said:  "He 
dipped  his  brush  in  light  and  air  and  drew  it  across 
the  canvas,  his  genius  making  a  wonder  of  glowing, 
yielding,  life-like  quality  of  his  flesh  tones.” 

Some  of  the  old  masters  of  the  Italian  school,  with 
their  secret  (?)  method,  also  painted  flesh  tones  with 
great  skill. 

The  author  does  not  share  the  belief  that  there  is 
any  magic  or  anything  out  of  the  reach  of  the  average 
painter  with  a  thorough  knowledge  of  color  in  the  work 
of  the  old  masters. 

Flesh  colors  in  chiaroscuro  contain  many  colors  that 

57 


5» 


The  Colorist 


are  complementary  to  each  other,  such  as  pink  and  green, 
red  and  blue,  etc.  These  colors,  as  we  know  from  our 
consideration  of  the  subtractive  and  juxtaposit  methods, 
will  produce  when  blended  and  viewed  by  reflected 
light  various  degraded  colors,  or  colors  mixed  with  gray. 

In  a  painting  these  colors  as  pigments  must  merge 
into  each  other,  and  to  be  successful  or  look  clean, 
bright,  and  glowing,  this  tendency  to  produce  gray  by 
admixture  must  be  overcome. 

On  examining  the  work  of  some  of  our  best  modern 
painters,  it  will  be  noticed  that  they  have  not  succeeded 
in  entirely  overcoming  this  difficulty. 

If  we  will  consider  that  by  the  additive  method  the 
combination  of  red  and  cyan  blue  produces  white,  and 
the  combination  of  green  and  red  produces  yellow,  while 
these  combinations  by  the  juxtaposit  method  produce 
gray  and  yellow  gray  respectively,  we  will  have  found 
the  key  to  the  solution  of  the  problem. 

If  in  the  model  red  and  blue  are  found  blended,  they 
will  be  blended  in  the  model  with  rays  of  light  (or  the 
additive  method).  Therefore,  when  we  imitate  the  model 
with  paint  (by  the  juxtaposit  or  the  subtractive  method), 
we  must  imitate  the  action  of  light  by  placing  white, 
the  additive  combination  of  the  colors,  between  them, 
and  allow  them  to  blend  into  the  white  instead  of  into 
each  other.  For  the  same  reason  when  we  wish  to  blend 
red  and  green,  we  must  place  yellow  between  them  as  the 
blending  color. 


Proper  Way  to  Blend  Oil  Colors  59 

This  principle  will  hold  good  for  the  blending  of  all 
complementary  colors  in  painting. 

A  partial  list  of  these  blending  colors  may  be  shown 
as  follows: 


To  blend  red  and  blue  (cyan),  use  white. 

4  ‘  “  red  and  green,  ‘  ‘  yellow. 

'  “  red  and  violet,  ‘  *  magenta. 

“  yellow  and  violet,  “  white. 

( '  ‘  ‘  green  and  violet,  ‘  ‘  blue  (cyan). 

1  “  green  and  magenta,  “  white. 


Colors  more  closely  related  to  each  other  than  the 
above,  or  colors  within  75  degrees  of  each  other  on  color 
chart  No.  2,  will  blend  into  each  other  without  the  ten¬ 
dency  to  produce  gray  or  muddiness. 


CHAPTER  XI 

COMPLEMENTARY  COLORS  IN  SHADOWS 

THE  blending  of  the  complementary  colors  natu¬ 
rally  brings  to  mind  the  thought  of  comple¬ 
mentary  shadows.  It  is  the  belief  of  the 
author  that  a  careful  analysis  of  the  reason  for  comple¬ 
mentary  shadows  will  correct  some  of  the  exaggerated 
notions  on  this  subject  held  by  modern  artists. 

When  we  look  at  a  landscape  in  sunlight,  we  will 
observe  that  the  lights  are  yellow  and  the  shadows  are 
blue  with  a  violet  tinge.  Sunlight  produces  the  yellow 
lights,  while  the  blue  in  the  shadows  is  supplied  by  dif¬ 
fused  light,  which  is  of  course  tinged  with  blue  from 
the  atmosphere.  These  shadows  are  tinged  in  turn  by 
the  nerves  of  the  eye,  which  call  up  the  complementary 
of  the  brilliant  sunlight  color,  which  is  violet. 

The  shadows  will  therefore  appear  tinged  slightly 
with  violet.  In  trying  to  represent  this  effect  on  can¬ 
vas,  our  lights,  being  a  non-luminous  pigment  and  not 
possessing  the  power  of  sunlight,  will  not  call  up  violet 
in  the  eye  to  a  sufficient  degree.  We  must  therefore 

6o 


Complementary  Colors  in  Shadows  6  i 

add  violet  to  the  color  of  the  atmosphere  in  the  shadows, 
in  order  to  successfully  simulate  the  effect  of  sunlight. 

On  a  “gray  day”  we  do  not  have  the  influence  of 
the  sun  to  produce  the  violet  action  in  the  nerves  of 
the  eye,  as  mentioned  previously,  and  the  atmosphere, 
being  charged  with  more  moisture,  reflects  a  white  or 
neutral  color.  We  therefore  have  a  different  color 
proposition  to  deal  with.  It  will  be  found  that  on  a 
“gray  day”  the  eye  alone  is  responsible  for  any  com¬ 
plementary  colors  which  may  appear  in  the  shadows. 
Therefore  it  will  be  correct  to  paint  a  brilliantly  colored 
object  with  shadows  tinted  very  slightly  with  its  own 
complementary  color,  while  neutral  objects  will  be  best 
painted  neutral  in  the  shadows. 

In  the  studio  illuminated  with  diffused  north  light, 
on  a  clear  day  the  lights  partake  of  the  color  of  the 
atmosphere  and  are  tinted  blue.  This  dominant  light 
is  the  one  which  exerts  the  greatest  influence  on  the 
color  of  the  shadows,  by  calling  up  its  own  complemen¬ 
tary  in  the  eye.  The  complementary  color  of  atmosphere 
blue  is  an  orange  red. 

A  particularly  brilliant  object  will  also  have  an  indi¬ 
vidual  effect  on  the  eye,  often  overbalancing  the  effect 
of  the  dominant  blue  illumination.  For  example,  if  we 
examine  a  piece  of  red  woolen  goods  in  such  a  condition, 
we  will  find  the  lights,  owing  to  the  additive  addition  of 
the  atmospheric  blue,  to  be  whiter  or  inclined  to  pink. 
The  shadows  will  appear  to  be  somewhat  neutral  in 


62 


The  Colorist 


color,  owing  to  the  addition  of  the  complementary  color 
(blue)  of  the  goods  by  the  eye.  The  reflected  lights  are 
of  course,  as  always,  a  lower-toned  color  of  the  goods, 
which  in  this  instance  is  red. 

The  foregoing  will  bring  us  to  the  realization  that  there 
is  no  set  rule  for  the  complementary  color  of  shadows 
which  will  apply  under  all  conditions,  and  also  that  the 
artist,  by  a  proper  regard  for  the  scientific  principles 
governing  the  complementary  color  shadows,  will  be 
better  able  to  render  the  various  effects  of  strong  or 
dominant  illumination  or  weak  and  ineffective  illumi¬ 
nation. 


CHAPTER  XII 


SURFACE  TEXTURE  IN  PAINTING 

WHEN  we  observe  a  solid  object  of  dead  color¬ 
ing,  say  a  brick,  an  object  that  is  without 
gloss,  we  instinctively  feel  that  our  power  of 
vision  cannot  penetrate  the  object  or  go  beyond  it.  We 
will  find  by  examination  that  the  object  has  the  follow¬ 
ing  properties  or  qualities  which  give  us  this  impres¬ 
sion,  namely,  Granularity  of  Surface  and  Opacity.  The 
painter  desiring  to  imitate  such  a  surface  will  naturally 
have  recourse  to  an  opaque  pigment  applied  so  as  to 
have  a  granular  surface.  A  good  example  of  this  would 
be  water-color  vermilion,  white,  and  black  applied  to 
a  rough  paper  to  represent  a  brick.  Suppose  we  exam¬ 
ine  a  brick  house  in  the  distance;  we  will  find  the  bricks 
subject  to  modifications  of  color,  due  to  the  atmosphere 
and  light  of  illumination,  but  they  still  retain  their 
opacity  and  granularity  of  surface. 

If  we  place  the  brick  in  shadow,  we  will  observe  that 
it  has  lost  its  appearance  of  granularity,  but  still  retains 

its  opacity.  Representing  it  in  this  condition,  the  artist 

63 


64 


The  Colorist 


will  still  use  an  opaque  pigment,  but  smooth  the  surface 
or  texture  of  his  pigment,  making  it  partially  or  dull 
polished.  If  we  examine  a  brick  thrown  into  a  clear 
stream  of  water,  we  will  then  see  the  brick  behind  a 
transparent  or  glossy  material  which  the  painter  could 
represent  with  a  glaze  or  tinted  varnish,  preferably  on  a 
smooth  surface. 

It  will  be  seen  then  that  we  have  the  following  quali¬ 
ties  of  pigment  and  of  surface  to  deal  with  in  painting: 
Opacity  and  Transparency  of  pigment,  with  Granular , 
Smooth,  Polished,  or  Glossy  surfaces. 

The  pigments  may  be  conveniently  divided  into 
Opaque,  Semi-opaque,  Translucent,  and  Transparent. 

Many  otherwise  excellent  oil  paintings  have  what 
may  be  called  a  “painty”  appearance,  due  partially  to 
the  lack  of  granularity  of  surface  and  juxtaposed  coloring. 
(Juxtaposed  coloring  is  considered  in  the  next  chapter.) 
Water-color  paintings  as  a  rule  have  more  atmosphere, 
or  a  lack  of  “paintiness,”  owing  to  their  granularity  of 
surface.  That  this  paintiness  is  not  an  inherent  fault  or 
quality  of  oil  paintings  is  readily  seen  by  examining 
the  work  of  Whistler  and  some  other  eminent  artists. 
Whistler  took  great  interest  in,  and  pains  with,  the  sur¬ 
face  texture  of  his  oil  paintings,  applying  thereto  a 
keen  appreciation  and  more  than  usual  knowledge. 

The  application  of  the  principles  governing  the  manip¬ 
ulation  and  use  of  surface  texture  is  so  obvious  that  but 
few  remarks  need  be  made  on  the  subject. 


Surface  Texture  in  Painting  65 

Generally  speaking,  solid  or  opaque  objects  when 
near  and  well  lighted  require  opaque  pigment  and  gran¬ 
ularity  of  surface.  The  same  in  the  distance  require 
the  granularity  of  surface,  but  a  semi-opaque  or  trans¬ 
lucent  pigment  may  be  employed  to  show  the  inter¬ 
vening  atmosphere.  Opaque  objects  in  shadow  will 
require  a  smooth  or  glossy  surface,  and  the  range  of 
pigment  may  be  from  opaque  to  transparent,  depending 
on  the  depth  of  the  shadow.  As  a  rule  shadows  should 
be  smooth  or  glossy,  while  well-lighted  objects  should 
have  a  granular  surface. 

Semi-opaque  or  semi-transparent  substances,  such  as 
flesh  in  portrait  or  figure  painting,  can  be  well  repre¬ 
sented  by  a  translucent  pigment,  or,  better  still,  by  a 
transparent  pigment  over  an  opaque  ground. 

In  the  same  way  a  distant  haze  presents  a  view  of 
distance  through  a  translucent  veil  or  fog,  and  may  be 
represented  on  canvas  in  the  same  way  by  scumbling  an 
atmospheric  or  fog  color  over  objects  in  the  distance 
painted  in  nearly  normal  colors. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  PROPER  COLORS  FOR  AERIAL  PERSPECTIVE 

IT  IS  a  well-known  fact  that  a  solid,  homogeneous 
mass  of  color  is  not  as  pleasant  to  the  eye  as  the 
same  color  made  up  of  particles  of  different  colors. 
This  may  be  tested  experimentally  with  the  cards 
colored  red  and  green,  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  the 
juxtaposit  method  of  combining  colors,  by  contrasting 
the  cards  with  a  solid  color  of  the  same  hue  and  tone. 
The  juxtaposit  mixture  of  the  cards  seems  to  have  more 
life  and  perhaps  more  of  a  luminous  and  translucent 
appearance. 

A  possible  explanation  for  this  is  that  the  juxtaposit 
method  gives  the  eye  a  more  thorough  notion  of  heat 
and  light  vibrations  than  does  the  solid  mass  of  color. 
This  would  suggest  that  flesh  tints  could  be  represented 
better  by  the  juxtaposit  method  than  by  using  a  solid, 
homogeneous  color. 

The  application  of  pigment  to  canvas  by  the  juxta¬ 
posit  method  has  been  practised  considerably  by  mod- 

66 


The  Proper  Colors  for  Aerial  Perspective  67 

ern  artists  of  the  impressionist  school.  Some  paintings 
by  Monet,  for  example,  represent  luminous  atmosphere 
admirably,  even  though  he  used  the  plus  colors  to 
do  it  with,  when  the  minus  colors  answer  the  purpose 
better. 

The  best  application  of  the  juxtaposit  method  of 
placing  colors  on  canvas  in  pictorial  art  is  undoubtedly 
their  application  by  this  method  for  painting  distance 
and  light  or  luminosity. 

The  eye  when  looking  at  a  distant  object  is  impressed 
by  a  large  variety  of  light  rays  or  waves.  Therefore 
when  we  wish  to  simulate  this  effect  on  canvas,  we  should 
adopt  all  means  to  impress  the  eye  with  the  largest 
variety  of  light  rays  or  waves. 

There  are  three  distinct  ways  of  doing  this:  First,  by 
using  a  granular  surface,  which  breaks  up  the  light  into 
brilliant  and  subdued  particles.  Second,  the  use  of  the 
juxtaposit  method  of  applying  the  pigments,  which  adds 
to  the  variety  of  light  rays.  Third,  the  use  of  the  minus 
set  of  colors,  because  they  contain  two  elements  of  light 
each,  as  compared  with  the  plus  set,  which  contain  only 
one  ray  or  element  of  light  each. 

While  luminosity  either  near  or  far  is  best  achieved 
by  a  granular  surface  together  with  the  minus  colors 
applied  in  juxtaposition,  the  reverse  is  the  case  with 
shadows  and  receding  effects.  In  the  case  of  shadows 
and  receding  effects,  it  will  be  found  best  to  use  a  smooth 
surface  and  transparent  pigments  applied  either  sub- 


68 


The  Colorist 


tractively  by  glazing  one  over  another,  or  by  the  juxta- 
posit  method,  using  at  the  same  time  the  plus  colors  on 
account  of  the  retiring  quality  they  possess  through 
their  property  of  absorbing  two  elements  of  light  and 
reflecting  but  one  element. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  it  is  far  easier  to  say  apply 
pigments  to  canvas  by  the  juxtaposit  method,  than  to 
do  so.  At  the  present  time  there  is  no  satisfactory  or 
easy  way  for  doing  this. 

The  method  usually  adopted  by  artists  is  to  labori¬ 
ously  apply  the  pigments  in  small  touches  with  a  small 
brush.  We  might  suggest  that  one  way  to  overcome 
the  difficulty  would  be  to  grind  the  pigments  very 
coarse,  so  that  their  separate  particles  when  mixed 
would  be  apparent  to  the  eye  on  close  observation.  It 
would  be  easy  to  conceive  that  pigment  ground  so  that 
its  particles  were  no  smaller  than  bird-shot  should, 
when  mixed,  produce  a  beautiful  effect  when  viewed 
from  the  proper  distance. 

A  method  of  juxtaposing  pigment  on  canvas,  prac¬ 
tised  with  success  by  the  author,  is  as  follows:  A  thick 
coat  of  opaque  pigment  of  suitable  color  is  first  applied 
evenly  to  the  canvas,  then  broken  up  into  little  eleva¬ 
tions  and  depressions  by  repeatedly  pressing  or  jabbing 
the  bristle  ends  of  a  stiff  hog-hair  brush  into  the  pig¬ 
ment.  This  is  allowed  to  dry  and  then  color  or  pigment 
may  be  juxtaposed  on  it  by  dragging  a  sparsely 
charged  brush  over  it.  In  this  way  the  last  applica- 


The  Proper  Colors  for  Aerial  Perspective  69 

tion  of  pigment  may  be  made  to  cling  to  the  upper 
surfaces  of  the  little  elevations  only,  presenting  a 
simultaneous  view  of  the  two  applications  of  pigment  or 
color. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


ART  OR  TRUTH  IN  PAINTING 

ACCORDING  to  the  best  modern  ideas  on  the 
subject,  pictorial  art  should  be  the  expres¬ 
sion,  to  a  large  degree,  of  the  imagination  of 
the  artist. 

Literal  truth  in  art  is  unattainable  and  undesirable. 
Under  the  very  best  conditions  paint  is  sadly  limited  in 
its  ability  to  simulate  light  or  luminosity.  For  exam¬ 
ple,  no  artist  or  painter  can  give  anywhere  near  an  ade¬ 
quate  idea  of  his  impression  of  the  sun  or  moon,  even 
when  not  at  its  brightest,  and  yet  we  sometimes  see 
attempts  of  this  sort  made.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
such  attempts  can  result  only  in  failure. 

As  far  as  the  representation  of  luminosity  is  con¬ 
cerned,  it  would  seem  best  to  limit  the  scope  of  art  to 
the  subjects  and  effects  within  reach  of  the  imagination 
at  least. 

As  the  principal  concern  of  art  is  beauty ,  and  as 
Nature  cannot  at  all  times  be  said  to  represent  the  high¬ 
est  type  of  beauty,  therefore  it  would  seem  to  be  within 

70 


Art  or  Truth  in  Painting 


71 


the  province  of  art  to  depart  from  Nature,  through  the 
imagination,  to  a  sufficient  degree  to  achieve  beauty  in 
both  form  and  color. 

The  limitations  of  Nature  in  the  composition  of  form 
are  well  known  to  artists,  and  the  knowledge  is  rapidly 
becoming  common  property  through  the  medium  of  the 
amateur  photographer. 

The  limitations  of  Nature  as  to  color  composition  do 
not  seem  to  be  appreciated  even  by  artists  as  fully  as 
those  of  form  composition.  For  example,  we  frequently 
see  in  Nature,  particularly  where  there  are  evidences  of 
civilization,  colors  which  are  out  of  harmony,  colors 
which  have  a  discordant  or  unpleasant  effect  on  the  eye. 
And  it  will  often  be  surprising  to  note  what  small  changes 
are  required  in  such  color  compositions  to  make  them 
harmonious. 

For  instance,  changing  the  color  of  a  brick  house 
into  the  various  reds,  ranging  from  orange  red,  red, 
purple  red,  and  crimson  pink,  or  the  changing  of  the 
color  of  the  sky  into  the  various  violet,  gray,  or  green- 
blue  colors,  as  required,  or  changing  the  color  of  grass 
and  foliage  into  the  various  blue,  yellow,  and  gray  greens. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  same  artistic  license  may  be 
taken  with  Nature  in  color  composition  as  is  taken  in 
composition  of  form,  and  still  give  the  impression  of 
truth  as  well  as  of  beauty. 


CHAPTER  XV 


A  STANDARD  COLOR  CODE,  AND  NOMENCLATURE 

THE  infinite  variety  of  arbitrary  names  applied 
to  various  colors  in  the  commercial  and  art 
worlds  suggests  that  it  would  be  a  great  con¬ 
venience  and  economy  to  so  codify  the  colors  as  to  make 
it  easy  to  describe  them  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy, 
either  with  words  or  formula. 

At  the  present  time  the  usage  of  color  nomenclature 
is  so  indefinite  that  the  word  red  may  be  used  to  indi¬ 
cate  any  one  of  a  wide  range  of  colors,  including  red 
orange,  red,  crimson,  and  purple  red,  together  with  their 
tones  of  tints  and  shades.  The  word  blue  may  indicate 
any  color  from  a  greenish  (peacock)  blue  to  a  violet, 
including  the  various  modifications  of  light  and  shade. 
The  words  yellow,  green,  orange,  and  purple,  while  they 
each  cover  a  wide  range  of  colors,  are  more  confined  to 
a  standard  than  red  and  blue.  The  word  violet  is  used 
perhaps  as  often  to  designate  a  purple  as  it  is  to  desig¬ 
nate  a  violet. 

Mere  rule-of-thumb  or  empirical  methods  of  deter- 

72 


A  Standard  Color  Code,  and  Nomenclature  73 

mining  the  names  of  colors,  which  we  are  sorry  to  say 
have  been  largely  used  in  color  text-books  for  the  public 
schools  in  America,  can  only  lead  to  further  confusion, 
and  for  this  reason  the  author  has  adhered  as  closely  as 
possible  to  the  recognized  scientific  names  for  colors 
throughout  this  book. 

The  author  respectfully  submits  the  following  method 
of  elaborating  these  names,  so  as  to  make  them  applica¬ 
ble  to  ordinary  usage. 

For  convenience  the  colors  are  placed  in  a  circle  (see 
color  chart  No.  2),  somewhat  after  the  manner  indicated 
in  the  chapter  on  "Beauty  in  Color.”  Beginning  with 
the  top,  where  we  place  the  yellow,  and  reading  to  the 
left,  the  names  of  the  colors  which  we  would  suggest 
will  appear  in  the  following  order,  15  degrees  apart. 

Yellow,  lemon  yellow,  yellow  green,  sap  green,  green, 
bluish  green,  turquoise  blue,  greenish  cyan,  cyan  blue, 
bluish  cyan,  blue,  blue  violet,  violet,  purple  violet,  pur¬ 
ple,  purple  magenta,  magenta,  crimson,  scarlet,  scarlet 
red,  red,  orange  red,  orange,  orange  yellow. 

These  names  should  represent  the  pure  hues  (satu¬ 
rated  and  brilliant)  or  colors  without  any  black  or  white 
mixed  with  them.  The  modifications  with  white  may 
be  indicated  by  using  the  term  tint  with  the  name  of 
the  color,  thus:  a  tint  of  red,  or  a  light  tint  of  red,  or  a 
very  light  tint  of  red. 

The  darker  tones  or  hues  mixed  with  black  may  be 
designated  by  the  use  of  the  term  shade ,  thus:  a  shade 


74 


The  Colorist 


of  green,  a  dark  shade  of  green,  or  a  very  dank  shade  of 
green. 

The  broken  tones  or  hues  modified  by  the  addition 
of  gray  or  a  complementary  color  could  be  represented 
by  using  the  term  gray  with  the  name  of  the  hue,  thus: 
a  grayish  blue,  a  gray  blue,  a  very  gray  blue. 

The  following  few  examples  will  serve  to  illustrate  the 
application  of  this  method  of  describing  colors.  It  must 
be  remembered,  however,  that  in  these  examples  we  are 
necessarily  confined  to  well-known  colors  which  are 
well  enough  described  by  their  own  names,  and  do  not 
need  such  a  method  for  their  description.  A  pink  could 
be  variously  described  as  a  tint,  a  light  tint,  or  a  very 
light  tint  of  either  scarlet,  crimson,  or  magenta.  A  red 
brown  may  be  a  shade,  a  dark  shade,  or  a  very  dark 
shade  of  scarlet  red  or  red.  A  yellow  brown  may  be  a 
shade,  a  dark  shade,  a  very  dark  shade  of  orange  red, 
orange,  or  orange  yellow.  Or  it  could  be  a  grayish  or 
gray  tone  of  any  one  of  these  colors. 

A  flesh  color  could  be  described  as  a  grayish  tint  of 
orange  red.  Amber  could  be  called  a  shade  of  yellow, 
or  gold  color  a  grayish  yellow.  Sage  green  might  be 
called  a  gray  green.  Navy  blue  a  dark  shade  of  violet. 

There  is  of  course  a  pressing  need  for  an  accurate 
method  of  description  which  would  enable  a  correspon¬ 
dent  to  send  an  accurate  description  of  a  color  by  mail 
or  telegraph  in  a  simple  formula.  This  may  be  done  in 
a  manner  to  fulfil  all  commercial  requirements  satisfac- 


A  Standard  Color  Code,  and  Nomenclature  75 

torily,  with  a  color  wheel  and  a  set  of  eight  Maxwell 
discs. 

These  sets  should  be  made  up  of  the  two  sets  of 
primary  colors,  the  plus  and  the  minus  colors,  together 
with  a  black  disc  and  a  white  disc.  The  wheel  should 
have  100  divisions  at  the  outer  edge,  so  as  to  enable  the 
percentage  of  each  color  to  be  taken.  The  colors  should 
be  mixed  as  indicated  in  the  chapter  on  ‘‘A  Full  Palette,” 
by  combining  in  each  instance  only  a  plus  color  and  a 
minus  color,  and  these  colors  should  be  not  more  than 
75  degrees  apart  on  the  color  chart  No.  2.  These  two 
primaries  may  be  modified  by  the  addition  of  black  and 
white,  or  both. 

Using  the  chemical  form  of  notation  to  indicate  the 
results  of  combinations  on  the  color  wheel,  we  may 
represent  vermilion,  possibly,  by  the  formula  R,  85,  Y.  15, 
substituting  the  initial  letter  for  the  complete  word  (as 
red  85,  yellow  15). 

Emerald  green  may  possibly  be  represented  as  G.  80, 
B.  10,  W.  10  (green  80,  blue  10,  white  10). 

Ultramarine  blue  as  V.  85,  B.  15  (violet  85,  blue  15). 

Prussian  blue  as  B.  75,  V.  15,  D.  10  (blue  75,  violet  15, 
and  dark  or  black  10). 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  initial  letter  B.  occurs  in 
both  blue  and  black;  we  have  therefore  substituted  D. 
for  the  initial  letter  of  black,  making  it  read  dark  instead 
of  black. 

The  initial  letters  will  therefore  read  as  follows  for 


76 


The  Colorist 


the  eight  discs:  Yellow,  Y.;  green,  G.;  cyan  blue,  B.; 
violet,  V.;  magenta,  M.;  red,  R.;  white,  W.;  and  black 
or  dark,  D. 

The  examples  above  are  not  from  accurate  meas¬ 
urements,  and  only  indicate  roughly  the  proper  propor¬ 
tions. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  author  to  arrange  for  the 
manufacture  of  a  color  wheel  and  a  set  of  standard  color 
Maxwell  discs  of  sufficient  accuracy  to  meet  the  require¬ 
ments  of  commerce. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


ADDENDUM 

THE  application  of  the  theory  of  color  harmony, 
as  formulated  in  the  chapter  on  “Beauty  in 
Color,”  has  of  course  the  widest  possible  range, 
and  may  be  used  for  every  purpose  with  which  beautiful 
and  tasteful  color  combinations  are  concerned. 

Naturally  one  of  these  applications  of  the  theory 
would  be  in  the  selection  of  colors  for  ladies’  cos¬ 
tumes. 

The  following  are  examples  of  the  twelve  principal 
harmonies  from  short  descriptions  by  Miss  M.  K.  Hatt. 

Harmony  No.  i,  as  represented  in  an  evening  gown 
for  a  brunette,  could  be  made  of  flowered  net  having  a 
dull  cream-yellow  ground  upon  which  dark  orange-red 
flowers  and  yellow-green  leaves  are  scattered,  mingling 
the  gray  and  shadowy  flowers  with  the  more  brilliant, 
Dresden  fashion.  The  net  should  have  an  underslip  of 
cream  silk,  the  flounces  and  ruffles  of  the  net  to  be  piped 
with  yellow-green  taffeta,  and  finished  with  a  yellow- 
green  girdle. 


77 


78 


The  Colorist 


Harmony  No,  2  is  comprised  in  a  gown  for  a  brunette, 
made  of  warm  gray  chiffon,  with  an  underslip  of  taffeta' 
changing  in  color  from  a  dull  yellow  to  a  dull  red,  the 
principal  trimming  being  a  shirring  of  the  chiffon.  The 
girdle  to  be  a  wide  ribbon  velvet  of  dull  red,  with  a 
“chou”  at  the  back. 

Harmony  No.  3  could  be  a  “border  gown,”  the 
bodice  and  skirt  as  far  as  the  knees  being  of  dark  ecru 
yellow,  which  melts  into  the  border  colors  of  tan,  brown, 
then  dark  brown,  through  which  are  distributed  faint 
red  and  pink  roses.  Brown  velvet  ribbon  and  pink 
roses  trim  the  corsage  of  the  gown. 

Harmony  No.  4.  A  color  combination  for  an  eve¬ 
ning  or  dinner  gown  of  black  moire,  showing  flower  effects 
of  delicate  salmon-pink  velvet  roses. 

The  seams  of  the  skirt  are  left  open  from  the  knees 
down,  showing  an  underdress  of  low-toned  red.  This 
red  also  forms  accents  at  the  shoulders  and  sleeves  of 
the  gown. 

Harmony  No.  5.  A  beautiful  gown  could  be  made 
of  warm  gray  chiffon  satin,  on  which  has  been  appliqued, 
with  a  silk  cord,  motifs  of  orchids  cut  from  the  material 
known  as  “Toile  de  Jouy.”  These  would  range  in  color 
from  pink  red  to  low-toned  red  and  gray  purple. 

The  lines  of  the  gown  could  be  accentuated  by  these. 

Harmony  No.  6.  Could  be  used  in  a  gown  of  dark 
gray-purple  chiffon,  ornamented  with  dark  violet  flowers. 

The  underdress  to  be  taffeta  of  a  delicate  low-toned 


Addendum 


79 

pink,  which  should  show  slightly  through  the  gray-purple 
chiffon. 

A  bunch  of  dark  (velvet)  violets,  with  small  ribbons 
of  purple  cascading  from  it,  to  be  placed  at  the 
girdle. 

Harmony  No.  7.  Might  be  made  into  a  pale  blue- 
violet  velvet  evening  gown,  with  small  sequins  of  dark 
purple  scattered  over  it. 

The  gown  should  have  a  deep  flounce  of  purple 
chiffon  at  the  bottom,  on  which  is  appliqued  violet 
motifs  of  velvet. 

Touches  of  violet  could  be  used  to  bring  out  the  lines 
of  the  corsage. 

Harmony  No.  8.  For  a  blonde,  a  black  gown  of  net 
which  shades  into  pale  blue  at  the  bottom  would  be  very 
becoming. 

Through  the  blue  should  be  scattered  profusely  vio¬ 
lets  of  a  deep  tone.  Blue  and  violet  chiffon  would  form 
the  top  of  the  corsage,  as  well  as  the  sleeves  and  lower 
part  of  the  skirt. 

This  gown  should  have  a  black  underslip. 

Harmony  No.  9.  These  colors  suggest  a  beautiful 
"empire”  gown  of  blue-green  silk  mull,  through  which 
can  be  seen  a  changeable  underdress  of  blue  violet  and 
blue. 

A  narrow  Greek  border  design  of  dark  violet  would 
finish  the  gown  at  the  bottom,  and  also  be  introduced 
at  the  high  girdle  and  bands  on  the  short  sleeves. 


8o 


The  Colorist 


Fillet  lace,  dyed  the  blue-violet  color,  would  form 
the  yoke  of  the  gown. 

Harmony  No.  10.  Would  be  desirable  for  a  delicate 
sage-green  chiffon  broadcloth  for  afternoon  wear. 

This  should  be  richly  embroidered  in  blue  and  a  more 
brilliant  shade  of  green,  and  completed  with  a  soft  girdle 
of  cyan  blue. 

Harmony  No.  n.  Would  be  charming  for  a  ‘‘Titian” 
beauty,  made  up  as  follows: 

A  trailing  evening  gown  of  mousseline  satin  in  blue 
green,  the  top  of  the  corsage  having  a  hand-painted 
chiffon  drapery  used  as  brettels,  falling  over  the  shoul¬ 
ders  and  knotted  in  a  “chou”  at  the  back,  the  free  ends 
falling  to  the  floor.  This  would  be  of  grayish  green, 
having  greenish-yellow  flowers. 

Harmony  No.  12.  Would  be  suitable  for  a  gown  of 
heavy  lace  of  deep  ecru  yellow,  the  only  trimming  of 
which  would  be  bands  of  chiffon  satin  of  an  apple-green 
hue,  at  the  elbows  of  the  short  sleeves  and  at  the  neck 
and  girdle. 


CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCSCCCCC-  CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCI 


CCCCCCCCrCCCffCCCtfi 


‘  C  c-  e  c  <  c  c  c  c  c  p  r-r  . 


c 


